The Ascent to Truth

Rating:
Summary: A more than introductory study of St John of the Cross.
Review: This is the young Thomas Merton tackling a great Spanish mystic that he was able to read in the original language. The Sign of Jonas, another book, makes wonderful side comments about the Carmelite mystic John of the Cross but here Merton really tries to meditate and explain him. It is not always successful. Merton did not think the book a success. Nevertheless, it is a good introduction to the problem of the tension between living by faith which enlightens the mind and the experience of God which can be so blinding as to create a dark night.