"The Cold Within" was written in the 1960s by an American poet known as James Patrick Kinney. It has appeared in countless church bulletins, web sites and teaching seminars, as well as magazines and newspapers, including Dear Abby’s column on September 5, 1999. According to the poet's widow, he submitted the poem first to the Saturday Evening Post, but it was rejected as "too controversial for the time". Kinney sent it later to Liguorian, a Catholic magazine, which was the first commercial publication to print it.
According to Timothy Kinney (the poet's son), the poem was originally read at an ecumenical council meeting, after which the ministers, priests and rabbis in attendance requested copies of it. They read the poem to their congregations and, before long, "The Cold Within" became well known throughout the United States.
According to James Patrick Kinney's son, the poem is in the public domain.