Penguin Classics Revelations Of Divine Love [Paperback]

Juliana of Norwich is very much in vogue these days, the subject of countless weekend retreats, seminars, classes, etc. She was a medieval hermit who experienced a series of visions which she had written down as she was convinced that their message was not just for her but for all mankind. That would make her no different from thousands of other deluded individuals except that 1) these have an unmistakable ring of authentic experience which most of this literature lacks, and 2) her explanations of her visions have some extraordinarily modern ideas about christianity. She talks about God being all love and not judging or blaming anyone but leaving them to their mistakes until they turn back to Him and are received warmly without any lectures, judging, sermons, or finger pointing. She talks about God being a "Mother" and possessing all of the tenderness of a mother. She talks about how God will bring all things to perfection one day, in her famous saying that "all shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well". Despite her frequent appeals to her fidelity to the teachings of "mother church", it is pretty obvious that she just escaped being charged with heresy only through some oversight of the authorities at the time as they were burning people at the stake for less radical teachings than the ones she taught. There is a good deal here that is gory - meditative visualizations on the very bloody crucifixion of Christ was a popular, and unwholesome, meditation at the time- and the reader has to figuratively wade through blood and guts to get to the good, useful stuff - so this may only be for those who are reading through all of the mystics. Frankly, I found only about 30 pages of intriguing material in the 150 or so in this book. A better choice for the reader may be the series entitled "Daily readings" of Juliana. This contains the most relevant material from her visions for modern readers. Why am I giving this 3 stars? Because it is important historically without being essential or enjoyable reading.

CS Lewis said Revelation of Love was the most "dangerous" book he has ever read, dangerous in a positive, life-changing way, not life-threatening way.
God's masculine attributes have been explored, disected, expanded throughout the centuries. He is our Father: the Protector, the Provider, the Discipliner... And it is quite theologically and grammatically correct to refer to God with a masculine title "Him" "He" or "Father". The original Greek in our New Testament and in the translation of the Old Testament into Greek (Septuagint) use masculine pronouns in reference to God. Yet the God who created man, also created woman.
Every attribute that we love about our moms ...; caring, compassionate, gentle, etc can be found in our God. Julian stretches one's view of God, even making one uncomfortable as she makes analogies and comparisons with God's feminine nature that one may be unfamiliar with: "until now and even until Doomsday, He feeds us and helps us, according to the high sovereign kindness of His Motherhood that answers our kindly needs of childhood. Fair and sweet is our heavenly Mother in our soul's sight; precious and lovely are His gracious children in the sight of our heavenly Mother...for a child will never dispair of a mother's love".But she, in no way, goes as far as liberal scholars today who want to change the masculine pronouns in the Bible to neutral ones. All this gender discussion should not hinder one from reading this book.
Julian's words are a fresh, gentle breeze or even sometimes a strong gust, to cool the sweat from faces heated by the serious discussions of doctrines and eschatology
"our Lover desires the soul to stay close to Him with all its strength, clinging ever more tightly to His goodness. Of all things the heart may think, this pleases God the most and affords us much progress."
"I (Julian) saw His continual working in every conceivable thing is done so goodly, so wisely, and so mightily that it defies imagination, and all that we can guess or think".
"Take the discomforts of this life as lightly as we can by counting them as nothing"
"He did not say , 'You shall not be tempted, you shall not be in trials, you shall not be distressed,' but He said 'You shall not be overcome'."
Some of the visions in her book were too confusing and feel free to skim over them to search for the refreshing drink of encouraging words Julian offers us. My favorite part is where she describes how Jesus, if He could, would [end life] on the cross over and over again until we lost count, just to show us how much He loves us!

Mother Julian's message reaches across the years and speaks to contemporary Christian spiritual seekers. Many have heard her famous, "And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." These comforting words are only one of the many jewels to be found in the The Revelation of Love. In particular, I am gently touched by her imagery of Christ as Mother. Having fled the hell-and-brimstone denomination of my youth, Mother Julian affirms that my concept of an all-loving God isn't something we've concocted in recent years to make ourselves feel better.

While Fr. John Julian's translation of this text is my favorite, it is currently out of print. This version is a close second and I highly recommend it to fellow pilgrims.