Chmielewski, Wendy E.

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 Swarthmore CollegeWorks   Library Staff Works   11-1-2004  Review Of "Julian of Norwich: Mystic And Theologian", New Ed. By G. Jantzen  Wendy E. Chmielewski Swarthmore College Peace Collection, wchmiel1@swarthmore.edu   Let us know how access to this work benefits you.  Follow this and additional works at: http://works.swarthmore.edu/sta-libraries  Part of the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons   Recommended Citation Wendy E. Chmielewski. (2004). "Review Of "Julian of Norwich: Mystic And Theologian", New Ed. By G. Jantzen". Nova Religio. Volume 8, Issue 2. 123-124. http://works.swarthmore.edu/sta-libraries/17  This work is brought to you for free and open access by the Swarthmore College Libraries. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Staff Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact myworks@swarthmore.edu. Book ReviewsNR0802.qxd  9/8/04  3:54 PM  Page 123Julian of Norwich: Mystic and Theologian, new ed. By Grace Jantzen. PaulistPress, 2000. 230 pages. $16.95 paper.“What does it mean to be an anchoress in postmodernity?” With thissentence, Grace Jantzen begins the introduction to her new edition ofJulian of Norwich. The body of the book, first published in 1987, offersthe reader a thorough spiritual investigation on writings of the Englishmedieval anchoress and mystic Julian of Norwich. The new introductorysection, written for this edition, expands the meanings of Julian’s the-ology, and makes it accessible and relevant to the “postmodern” seekerof spirituality in the twenty-first century.The book is divided into several parts. In the first section, Jantzencombines the few biographical details known about Julian with a generaldiscussion of the life of an anchoress in the second half of the four-teenth century. Almost all information known about Julian comes fromher own writings, The Showings of the Love of God.In the central core of the book, Jantzen examines Julian’s set ofvisions experienced during severe illness. Her subsequent decades-longexploration of these visions and the meaning they had, informedJulian’s spirituality throughout her life. From these visions, and the sub-sequent spiritual inquiry into the meaning of divine love, comes Julian’ssophisticated theology.In the last section, Jantzen guides the reader in utilizing Julian’s the-ology of divine love into a system for spiritual guidance and growth. Inher new introduction, Jantzen emphasizes this last point. She reiteratesthat Julian wrote for all people and all time. Throughout her text,Jantzen enthusiastically recommends that her readers embrace Julian’sguidance and reliance on divine comfort as a prescription for healing.She believes that these writings can be a guidepost for the “anchoress inpostmodernity” showing ways to turn towards “new life” and away fromthe “death-dealing structures and practices of modernity” (p. xxii). It isJulian’s theological interpretations of her visions in which she sees Christas maternal, nurturing, and giving birth to humanity, that Jantzenbelieves speak most powerfully to the modern reader of these texts.Jantzen reminds us that Julian’s Showings was the first book written inEnglish by a woman. She asserts that Julian’s use of maternal imagery indescribing characteristics of Christ connects the lives of ordinary womento the divine. In the subtitle of the book, Jantzen identifies Julian as atheologian, thus giving her an authoritative role in an arena dominatedby male voices. The book is densely packed with insights and interpretations of thetext, full of applicable quotations from the various versions of TheShowings of the Love of God. With this volume, Jantzen attempts to meetthe needs of both a scholarly and a more general audience in search ofsophisticated spiritual guidance. Although the book targets “anyone123Nova ReligioNR0802.qxd  9/8/04  3:54 PM  Page 124drawn to Christian mysticism,” as the back cover copy indicates, it mighthave more appeal to the scholar of medieval mysticism and theology.Wendy E. Chmielewski, Swarthmore College Peace Collection124

Review Of  Julian of Norwich: Mystic And Theologian , New Ed. By G. Jantzen

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Review Of Julian of Norwich: Mystic And Theologian , New Ed. By G. Jantzen

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