Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark Mysticism, Art, and the Path of Unknowing

By: James K. A. Smith

Published by Yale University Press, 2026-03-24

A philosopher journeys back to the mystics to learn how to live with uncertainty in the twenty-first century



How do we live when we don't know what to believe, or who to believe, or how we could even know? In this deeply felt book, philosopher James K. A. Smith explores how radical uncertainty can be liberating, opening us to another way of being. The pain of his own profound uncertainty led Smith to a surprising source for modern consolation: the mystical experiences of Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint John of the Cross, and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing. These mystics testify to a deeper truth beneath all that distracts and all that foments anxiety and fear. It is love.



Drawing on ancient traditions of contemplation as well as on contemporary novels, poetry, film, and paintings, Smith speaks to the fundamental yearnings that persist in late modernity, including the philosophical quest for knowledge and certainty. He shows us how the gifts of the Christian contemplative tradition and the riches of creative works embody a liberating spirituality that recovers the fullness of being human.



As Smith traces his twenty-first-century journey with the mystics, he reveals that wisdom is learning how to live with uncertainty. In bringing a philosopher's eye and ear to the mystics, Smith brings a mystical heart back to philosophy.