In her Revelations, Julian shows great charm in the childlike, tender quality of her expression. She sees God as one Who delights in His creation and desires that we would recognize this and participate. Julian's attitude regarding the "all shall be well" largely depends on acceptance of the limitations of our own vision and the knowledge that the vastness of divine providence is mysterious. Julian has remained a continual evolving manuscript for numerous individuals both of the laity, clergy and scholastic vocations. This is quite remarkable, since the flip side of this story is the "Ladder of Perfection" by Walter Hilton OSA, which many contend was written to Julian. This work has a life of its own and is continually resurfacing. Julian emphasizes numerous points of doctrine, with an exquisite joy, focusing on "the bliss and glory" rather than the idea of earth's being a battleground for good and evil. This is one thing which sets her apart from many others, regardless of their gender.

You are about to embark upon a simple and impartial account of Judaism on the one hand, and a perusal of the Gospels on the other, constituting one of the most convincing proofs of the Divine origin of the Christian religion, and of its organic connection with that of the Old Testament. Again, it is impossible to read the Gospel narrative in the light of Jewish history without feeling that the notions and circumstances to which it alludes, are exactly those of the time in which Jesus Christ lived and taught on earth. They apply to that period, and to that period only. The notions, the modes of speaking, the opposition and its very manner, to which the New Testament refers, are exactly those of that period. If a copy of the Gospels were put into the hands of an impartial Jewish historian, he could not fail to discover that the events there chronicled must have taken place exactly at the time when, according to Christian belief, Jesus walked among men. This is the legacy of A. Edersheim.

The words 'me,' 'mine,' 'you,' 'yours,' can mislead us into feeling separate from other people. This book is an exhilarating contribution to the spirituality of non-duality or non-separation. Meister Eckhart, Mother Julian of Norwich and Thomas Traherne are interpreted as 'theopoets' of the body/soul who share a moderate non-dualism. Their work is brought within the ambit of non-dual Hinduism. Specifically, their passion for unitive spiritual experience is linked to construals of both 'the Self' and 'Awakening', as enunciated by Advaita Vedanta. Charlton draws on poetry, theology and philosophy to perceive fresh connections. A commonality of interest is proposed between the three Europeans and Ramana Maharshi. The concept of non-duality is basic to much of Asian religion. On the other hand, Christianity has usually ignored its own non-dual roots. This text contributes to a recovery, in the West, of the vital, unifying power of non-dual awareness and connectedness.

With elements of index, dictionary, encyclopaedia, concordance, and collection of quotations, this volume has been designed to act as a comprehensive and accessible guide to the whole of Sangharakshita's Complete Works.

"There is a rich tradition of wonderful women and other contemplatives who are great resources for thinking differently about Christianity. They emphasized divine love, human compassion, and the radical possibilities of contemplative practices. They were not afraid to criticize the church and indeed thought of their challenge as crucial to their faith. We do not have to lose faith with the beautiful wisdom of this story of intimate and compassionate love, dwelling among us and within us, if we do not want to." —from the acknowledgments and note to readers To those seeking a more open, progressive approach to Christian faith, the Christian past can sometimes seem like a desert, an empty space devoid of encouragement or example. Yet in the latter years of the Middle Ages a quiet flowering of a more accessible, positive approach to Christian belief took place among a group of female mystics, those who emphasized an immediate, nonhierarchical experience of the divine. In this enlightening volume, Wendy Farley eloquently brings the work of three female mystics—Marguerite Porete, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Julian of Norwich—into creative conversation with contemporary Christian life and thought. From alternatives to the standard, violent understandings of the atonement, to new forms of contemplation and prayer, these figures offer us relevant insights through a theology centered on God's love and compassion. Farley demonstrates how these women can help to refresh and expand our awareness of the depth of divine love that encompasses all creation and dwells in the cavern of every human heart.

Teachings from this fourteenth-century mystic provide spiritual direction and call for you to open yourself, body and soul, to divine love. Many people are familiar with the phrase “All shall be well” but do not know much, if anything, about Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth-century English mystic who wrote those words. Thomas Merton declared her to be “without a doubt one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices,” and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says that her writings “may well be the most important work of Christian reflection in the English language.” This accessible introduction to Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love, an extended reflection on a series of her mystical visions, includes an informative introduction that addresses the historical, cultural and sociological context of Julian’s life and writings. Mary Earle’s facing-page commentary focuses on Julian’s profoundly hopeful vision of humanity and God, her creative imagery and her rigorous honesty about the spiritual life. Drawing directly from Julian’s text, Earle addresses a variety of topics essential to understanding Julian’s mysticism, including the infinite nature of God, the life of prayer, God’s suffering with us, the eternal and undying life of the soul, the motherhood of Jesus and the motherhood of God, “all shall be well” and more.

A new reading of the Revelations in the context of late-medieval manuscript traditions.

Fairacres Publications 207 This book contains four papers read at a conference held on 2-3 February 2023 to mark 650 years of Revelations of Divine Love. They show the breadth and reach of Julian's inspiration in today's world, from personal issues such as impatience and despair (Mother Hilary Crupi) to the great questions of climate change and biodiversity loss (Bishop Graham Usher). The essays also examine the place of compassion in today's increasingly cruel world (Sister Elizabeth Ruth Obbard) and what the monastic tradition as it is lived today might reveal about Julian presence (Father Colin).

Julian of Norwich (ca. 1343&–ca. 1416), a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, and John Wyclif, is the earliest woman writer of English we know about. Although she described herself as &“a simple creature unlettered,&” Julian is now widely recognized as one of the great speculative theologians of the Middle Ages, whose thinking about God as love has made a permanent contribution to the tradition of Christian belief. Despite her recent popularity, however, Julian is usually read only in translation and often in extracts rather than as a whole. This book presents a much-needed new edition of Julian&’s writings in Middle English, one that makes possible the serious reading and study of her thought not just for students and scholars of Middle English but also for those with little or no previous experience with the language. &• Separate texts of both Julian&’s works, A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love, with modern punctuation and paragraphing and partly regularized spelling. &• A second, analytic edition of A Vision printed underneath the text of A Revelation to show what was left out, changed, or added as Julian expanded the earlier work into the later one. &• Facing-page explanatory notes, with translations of difficult words and phrases, cross-references to other parts of the text, and citations of biblical and other sources. &• A thoroughly accessible introduction to Julian&’s life and writings. &• An appendix of medieval and early modern records relating to Julian and her writings. &• An analytic bibliography of editions, translations, scholarly studies, and other works. The most distinctive feature of this volume is the editors&’ approach to the manuscripts. Middle English editions habitually retain original spellings of their base manuscript intact and only emend that manuscript when its readings make no sense. At once more interventionist and more speculative, this edition synthesizes readings from all the surviving manuscripts, with careful justification of each choice involved in this process. For readers who are not concerned with textual matters, the result will be a more readable and satisfying text. For Middle English scholars, the edition is intended both as a hypothesis and as a challenge to the assumptions the field brings to the business of editing.

For centuries readers have comfortably accepted Julian of Norwich as simply a mystic. In this astute book, Denys Turner offers a new interpretation of Julian and the significance of her work. Turner argues that this fourteenth-century thinker's sophisticated approach to theological questions places her legitimately within the pantheon of other great medieval theologians, including Thomas Aquinas, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Bonaventure.Julian wrote but one work in two versions, a Short Text recording the series of visions of Jesus Christ she experienced while suffering a near-fatal illness, and a much expanded Long Text exploring the theological meaning of the "showings" some twenty years later. Turner addresses the apparent conflict between the two sources of Julian's theology: on the one hand, her personal revelation of God's omnipotent love, and on the other, the Church's teachings on and her own witnessing of evil in the world that deserves punishment, even eternal punishment. Offering a fresh and elegant account of Julian's response to this conflict--one that reveals its nuances, systematic character, and originality--this book marks a new stage in the century-long rediscovery of one of the English language's greatest theological thinkers.