Julian of Norwich —Mystic, contemplative, feminist, pantheist 1342-1423
MYSTIC
"Julian of Norwich was graced with a series of visitations from God in the form of sixteen visions. Shortly after these revelations, or "showings" as Julian referred to them, she wrote a description of them as well as a brief analysis of their content." John Noffsinger, Ph.D
"There can be no doubt that Julian is the greatest of the English mystics."
—Thomas Merton
CONTEMPLATIVE
"Because of the great, infinite love which God has for all humankind, he makes no distinction in love between the blessed soul of Christ and the lowliest of the souls that are to be saved . . . . We should highly rejoice that God dwells in our soul and still more highly should we rejoice that our soul dwells in God. Our soul is made to be God's dwelling place, and the dwelling place of our soul is God who was never made." JoN
"And I saw no difference between God and our Substance: but as it were all God." JoN
"God also showed that sin would be no shame but an honor to man, for just as for every sin there is an answering pain in reality, so for every sin bliss is given to the same soul." JoN"In Early Christianity, in Ireland and England, hermits, contemplatives, paralleling those of the Egyptian and Syrian deserts, were known as the Celi Dei , the Friends of God. This name is also frequent in later contemplative movements and writings . At the same time that Julian of Norwich, Walter Hilton and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing were formulating their contemplative texts in England, other mystics were writing on the Continent."
FEMINIST
"In Julian's theology, we find the fullest expression of the concept of the femininity of God. 'God is really our Mother as he is Father,' she says. 'Our precious Mother Jesus brings us to supernatural birth, nourishes and cherishes us by dying for us, giving us the sacrament.... Her mysticism brings tenderness and 'homeliness' to the understanding of God our Mother." Kenneth Leech, author of Soul Friend"And so Jesus is our true Mother in nature by our first creation, and he is our true Mother in grace by his taking our created nature." JoN"I it am. The greatness and goodness of the Father, I it am; the wisdom and kindness of the Mother, I it am" JoN"The Second Person of the Trinity is our mother in nature, in our substantial making. In him we are grounded and rooted, and he is our mother by mercy in our sensuality, by taking flesh." JoN
ANTHEIST AND UNIVERSALIST
"For in man is God, and God is in all. And I hope by the grace of God he that beholdeth it thus shall be truly taught and mightily comforted..." JoN"And after this I saw God in a Point, that is to say, in mine understanding, -- by which sight I saw that He is in all things" JoNON SIN AND HELL"One aspect of her writing that is most liberating, is her assertion that there is no wrath in God. This speaks to a world, where, if there is any awareness of God at all, there is an awareness that God is a God of judgment and anger; an image of God with a big stick waiting to get one!"
Diocese of Johannesburg
"Because she held strongly this belief in the closeness of man and God, Julian has an optimistic assessment of man and the universe, and a belief that sin is relatively unimportant... Moreover she claims that 'God showed me that sin need be no shame to man but can even be worthwhile.' She seems to mean by this that sins are disguised virtues, for 'in heaven what sin typifies is turned into a thing of honor.'
Kenneth Leech, author of Soul Friend
