Revelations Of Divine Love, by Julian Of Norwich

I likely would have never read this book had it not been included as among the 25 books that a group of not very wise people thought that all Christians should read [1].  My thoughts on this book are somewhat complicated, and this book is evidence that one need not agree with or approve of an author’s message in order to see something worthwhile about the book and the perspective of the author.  Case in point, this work consists of two texts (a short version and a long version) of a mystical experience that the author describes and interprets according to her Trinitarian theology and her high view of the Virgin Mary (neither of which I approve of [2]).  I am deeply critical of the contents of this book, about which I will comment more below, but at the same time there is something to appreciate about the fact that the author is the first known female writer in the English language even apart from the concerns of the text itself, which are rich in showing the religiousity and gender politics of late Middle Ages Roman Catholicism, a subject of at least some personal interest.

This is a short work, and it contains a great deal of textual commentary and introduction, seeing that there are two recensions of this work, a shorter initial version that we have manuscript evidence of dating from 1413, and a longer version that was almost certainly written decades later.  The manuscripts we have circulated among English Catholics on the continent in the post-Reformation period, making this work a sign of resistance to the Protestant order in post-Reformation England, although in at least some cases the author appears to have a view of grace that would match that of many contemporary readers quite well.  The short version of her text includes some diffident comments about her not presuming to teach a male, given that the idea of female mysticism was highly controversial in the religious climate of her day, but the longer version of the text is more confident and reflects someone who had received a great deal of respect and regard through her devoted religious service in the late Plantagenet and early Lancastrian periods and was in a position of far more security within the religious world of her time than when she first wrote about her experience in the late 14th century.

Again, what is chiefly of value here is the context of the author’s writings.  Her own accounts are full of unbiblical speculations and her vision may have even been one of those lying wonders that are so often confused by the credulous for genuine visions of God.  Yet in reading this book I was struck by the fact that the author was clearly leveraging her own status as a female into some striking insights about the gentleness and kindness and affection of God and Jesus Christ for believers that are often disregarded by male writers who, especially at that time, focused more on the side of God and Christ as stern judges demanding high moral behavior on the part of believers, which is certainly true but incomplete.  I think we often miss something if our religious perspective only comes from the experiences of powerful men and does not include the perspective of others whose lives without power often lead them to recognize different sides of God’s dealing with humanity than are the case from those who do not feel the need to depend on Jesus Christ for comfort in the face of unfriendly authorities, as was clearly the case for the author.  Even if I disagree with and disapprove of much that this author says, I am glad she wrote, because her perspective on questions of religious power and access to God is certainly well worth taking into account.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016/03/25/book-review-25-books-every-christian-should-read/

[2] See, for example:

Book Review: The Holy Trinity

Why Have A Trinity Anyway?

On The Trinity And Logic

Mysteries Of The Bible: What Does The Nature Of Christ Have To Do With The Virgin Mary?

Book Review: Hail, Holy Queen