Negative Theology and Desire in Spiritual Transformation According to John of the Cross

John of the Cross holds that God is desire and that union with God involves a meeting of human and divine desire, yet his negative theology programmatically negates desire on the spiritual journey. He describes the lack of satisfaction of desire as darkness and emptiness, which is the main manifestation of desire during spiritual transformation. The apparent opposition between human and divine desire is resolved through a gradual uncovering of what lies beneath the presenting experience of desire in the soul's constitution as a subject. Desire is transformed, but this transformation can be affirmed only at the level of the subject's transformation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Desire is central to John of the Cross’ treatment of the mystical ascent to God. He holds that God is desire and that there is a meeting between human and divine desire in the state of union with God, which is the goal. But it is less clear how this desire is to be understood against John’s programmatic negation of desire on the spiritual journey in both its sensory and spiritual forms, according to his negative theology. He regards the lack of satisfaction of desire, which he expresses in terms of darkness and emptiness, as the main manifestation of desire in the process of spiritual transformation. The question arises as to where he locates the meeting between human desire and divine desire, when they seem to be only opposed to one another. The answer lies in the gradual uncovering, through this process, of what is happening beneath the presenting experience of desire, in the human soul’s constitution as the subject. Desire is transformed, but in a way that can be affirmed only at the level of this transformation of the subject. This article examines how John of the Cross understands the relationship between desire and negative theology.