On a whim, it seems, I began reading Fr. Thomas Dubay's book, Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment. This book looks at the many questions and also provides answers to issues surrounding discernment in spirituality. This work provides a solid structure and then adds flesh to it's bones while dealing with one of the age old questions... "how do I know when God is speaking to me." It draws heavily from Scripture, but also from mystics St. John of the Cross and Catherine of Sienna. This book is relatively short, but it is jam packed with legit insight; there is no fluff in this book and Fr. Dubay makes a solid case. It is one of the best books I've picked up in a long while. I plan to write a review of it once I complete it. Till then, I'll leave with you with a snippet of Fr. Dubay's thoughts on illuminism... a rather undiscerning approach to the topic: "... the historical problem with illuminism is that it knows only the inner light. It loses sight of or rejects another whole series of biblical texts (we have mentioned a fraction of them in preceding pages) that require guidance from an outer structure. The illuminist is so convinced of his inner light that no one either in civil society or in the hierarchical Church may admonish him or regulate his activity. Objective evidence brought against his position leaves not a dent in his subjective persuasion. His privileged inner source of light, his direct illumination by the Holy Spirit renders unnecessary the intervention of other human persons. The illuminist is often an enthusiast, a person who deemphasizes the intellectual, objective approach and favors instead the avenue of subjective and direct access to God. Because he cuts himself off from the roots of his intellectual past and present, he easily gets attention. Ronald Knox has shrewdly observed that “the enthusiast, because he exaggerates, always has our sympathies in a given encounter. He cuts a finer figure, doing nothing by halves.” He need not be careful about distinctions and definitions. He need not mention conditioning elements in a problem. He can say things in a sweeping manner. And so the unwary and the slow-witted find him attractive. It can surprise one how easily he gathers a following.
Dubay, Fr. Thomas (2009-12-17). Authenticity (pp. 51-52). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.
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