Revelations of Divine Love

1. Introduction

Revelations of Divine Love is a late medieval English mystical work presenting sixteen visions, or “shewings,” received by the anchoress Julian of Norwich during a near-fatal illness in 1373 and elaborated over subsequent decades of reflection. Preserved in two main versions—the shorter, more narrative Short Text and the extensive, meditative Long Text—it is widely regarded as the first known book in English written by a woman.

The work is frequently described as both visionary narrative and experimental theology. Julian recounts vivid images of Christ’s Passion, Trinitarian joy, and divine tenderness, then probes their doctrinal implications. Rather than constructing a scholastic system, she thinks through experience, scripture, and church teaching in an iterative, self-questioning manner.

Central to the work is Julian’s insistence that God is love without remainder, a claim she explores through themes such as the non-wrathful character of God, the “behovely” (fitting) nature of sin, the motherhood of God, and the repeated promise that “all shall be well.” Interpreters variously situate the text within late medieval affective piety, mystical theology, pastoral spirituality, and the history of women’s writing. While later sections of this entry address these areas in detail, this introduction frames Revelations of Divine Love as a distinctive contribution to Christian reflection on suffering, providence, and hope.

2. Historical and Religious Context

2.1 Late Medieval England and Norwich

Julian’s visions occurred in 1373 in Norwich, then one of England’s largest cities. Scholars note that her lifetime overlapped with repeated outbreaks of plague, economic strain, and social unrest.

Many interpreters argue that the work’s intense focus on suffering and consolation reflects this wider climate, even if it rarely references it explicitly.

2.2 Religious Climate and English Mysticism

Julian wrote within a flourishing culture of vernacular devotion and English mysticism, alongside figures such as Walter Hilton and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing. The period saw:

• growth of affective meditation on Christ’s Passion
• emphasis on personal, interior experience of God
• concern about heresy, especially Lollardy

Some scholars suggest Julian’s careful affirmations of church teaching, and her anonymizing self-description as a “simple creature unlettered,” reflect a cautious positioning within an environment of doctrinal scrutiny.

2.3 Anchoritic and Monastic Influences

As an anchoress, Julian lived enclosed in a cell attached to a Norwich church, likely St Julian’s. The anchoritic vocation shaped her contemplative focus and her audience: local visitors seeking counsel. Commentators link her theology of stability, prayer, and spiritual companionship to this enclosed yet relational way of life, while also noting parallels with monastic lectio divina and liturgical rhythms that permeate her language and imagery.

3. Author and Composition

3.1 Julian of Norwich: Identity and Status

Very little is known about Julian of Norwich beyond what the text and later traditions imply. “Julian” is probably taken from the church of St Julian where her cell was located, rather than being provably her baptismal name. She identifies herself as “a simple creature unlettered,” a formula many scholars understand not as total illiteracy but as a conventional humility to contrast her experiential theology with scholastic learning.

Proposed reconstructions of her background vary. Some posit prior association with a religious community or educated urban milieu; others caution that the evidence is too scant for confident biographical claims.

3.2 Date and Stages of Composition

The visions themselves are dated internally to May 1373, when Julian was about “thirty years and an half.” Most scholars distinguish two main redactional stages:

Debate continues over the exact chronology: some argue for multiple intermediate revisions of the Long Text; others suggest a single later expansion.

3.3 Intended Audience and Purpose

Julian states that she wrote for “mine even-Christians,” fellow believers seeking understanding of God’s love. Interpretations differ as to whether she primarily envisaged:

• a local, pastoral audience of visitors to her cell
• a wider devotional readership in religious houses and lay households
• or a more specialized contemplative readership

Many scholars emphasize that her purpose appears twofold: to record the content of the showings and to model a process of faithful questioning, where difficulties about sin, suffering, and salvation are explored but not prematurely resolved.

4. Structure and Organization of the Sixteen Showings

4.1 The Two Textual Forms

Both the Short Text and the Long Text revolve around the same sequence of sixteen showings, but they organize and frame them differently:

4.2 Sequence of the Sixteen Showings

The showings unfold in a carefully ordered progression from Christ’s Passion to Trinitarian joy and cosmic assurance. While chapter divisions vary by edition, commentators broadly group them as:

1. Christ’s bodily Passion (bleeding head, pain, dryness, and discolouring of face and body).
2. Shift to spiritual joy in the Trinity and in the honor given to Mary.
3. Contemplation of the Creator and creation, including the hazelnut image.
4. Insights on prayer, providence, and the claim that “God does all that is done.”
5. Assurances about sin and its “behovely” character.
6. Promise that “all shall be well,” repeated and deepened.
7. Parable of the Lord and the Servant and further reflections on sin and compassion.
8. Final, more abstract shewings of unmediated divine being and hidden “deed.”

Scholars note that this structure moves from concrete, sensory vision to more interior, conceptual illumination.

4.3 Framing Devices and Repetition

The Long Text employs framing chapters in which Julian states what was shown, registers her perplexity, and returns to the same showing later with new understanding. Repeated refrains—such as “I desired often to know what our Lord meant”—create a layered architecture, where earlier showings are re-read in the light of later ones, especially the culminating assurance that “all manner of thing shall be well.”

5. Central Arguments and Key Concepts

5.1 God as Pure Love and the Question of Wrath

A central claim is that in God there is no wrath. Julian records being taught that what is perceived as divine anger arises from human fear and guilt, not from any change in God:

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“For I saw no manner of wrath in God.”

— Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Long Text)

Some interpreters see this as a re-description of divine justice in terms of unchanging love; others regard it as a daring reframing that sits uneasily alongside certain traditional images of judgment.

5.2 Sin as “Behovely” and “No Thing”

Julian famously states that “sin is behovely”—in some sense fitting within God’s providence—yet also that sin is “no thing” with real substance. Proponents of a more optimistic reading argue she approximates an Augustinian view of evil as privation while emphasizing God’s ability to turn sin to growth in humility and love. Critics suggest the combination of “behovely” and “no thing” risks minimizing sin’s gravity.

5.3 Christ’s Passion and Divine Compassion

The graphic showings of the Crucified Christ ground a theology of radical divine solidarity with suffering. Commentators highlight how Julian integrates affective devotion with doctrinal claims about atonement, often emphasizing participation and compassion over juridical satisfaction, though she does not explicitly reject inherited atonement models.

5.4 Motherhood of God

Julian’s Motherhood of God, especially in Christ, is a key conceptual innovation. She describes Christ as conceiving, bearing, and nursing believers. Feminist and constructive theologians often stress this as expanding gendered God-language; others read it as an extension of earlier medieval maternal metaphors within a conventional Trinitarian framework.

5.5 “All Shall Be Well” and Eschatological Hope

The repeated assurance that “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well” raises questions about universal salvation. Some interpreters view Julian as a hopeful universalist; others argue she maintains doctrinal boundaries by emphasizing that the manner of fulfillment is a hidden “deed” known only to God. The text itself holds the tension without explicit resolution, making this phrase a focal point of ongoing debate.

6. Famous Passages and Legacy

6.1 The Hazelnut Vision

Julian’s image of a small thing “no bigger than a hazelnut” in the palm of her hand is one of the most cited passages:

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“I looked thereupon with the eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made.”

— Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Long Text, ch. 5)

Interpreters see here a compact cosmology: creation as fragile, loved, and sustained by God. The image has influenced poetry, spirituality, and ecological theologies attentive to dependence and contingency.

6.2 “All Shall Be Well”

The refrain:

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“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

— Long Text, ch. 27, 32

has become emblematic of Julian’s thought. It is widely quoted in pastoral care, liturgy, and literature, often detached from its complex theological context. Some scholars note that modern uses can underplay the text’s sustained wrestling with sin and judgment; others argue that its very detachment has allowed it to function as a portable symbol of hope in diverse settings, including secular and interfaith contexts.

6.3 God’s Motherhood in Christ

Passages on God’s motherhood (Long Text, ch. 58–63) have been influential in feminist theology and liturgical experimentation, where they are cited as historical precedent for maternal God-language. Medievalists, however, often stress continuity with earlier monastic maternal metaphors (e.g., Anselm, Bernard), seeing Julian as distinctive more in systematic development than in novelty of imagery.

6.4 The Parable of the Lord and the Servant

The Lord and the Servant parable (Long Text, ch. 51) is frequently discussed in studies of sin and grace, and has inspired modern retellings and dramatic adaptations. Its portrayal of God honoring the fallen servant has contributed to pastoral applications emphasizing divine compassion over blame.

6.5 Modern Cultural and Spiritual Reception

From the 20th century onward, these passages have appeared in:

Scholars differ on whether such receptions oversimplify Julian or represent legitimate re-contextualizations of her insights.

7. Legacy and Historical Significance

7.1 Transmission and Rediscovery

Revelations of Divine Love circulated in manuscript among late medieval religious readers but remained relatively obscure until the 1670 printed edition by Serenus de Cressy. A more substantial modern reception began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially through Grace Warrack’s 1901 edition. Historians see this rediscovery as intertwined with renewed interest in mysticism, Anglo-Catholic spirituality, and women’s religious writing.

7.2 Place in English Mysticism and Theology

Julian is now commonly grouped with the major English mystics, yet she is increasingly studied as a systematic thinker. Denys Turner and others argue that her reflections on sin, love, and the unknowability of God contribute significantly to apophatic and speculative theology. Some scholars, conversely, caution against over-systematizing a text whose form is dialogical and exploratory.

7.3 Influence on Spirituality and Pastoral Theology

The work has shaped modern Christian spirituality through:

• emphasis on trust in divine love
• reimagining of confession and repentance in terms of compassion rather than fear
• portrayal of God as motherly and courteous

Pastoral theologians often draw on Julian in contexts of trauma, illness, and end-of-life care. Critics sometimes question whether her intense focus on inward consolation may sideline structural or political aspects of suffering.

7.4 Feminist and Gender-Theological Reception

Julian’s status as the first known woman to write a book in English and her use of maternal imagery for God have made her a central figure in feminist theology. Some interpreters highlight her rhetorical strategies as a woman negotiating authority within a male-dominated church; others warn against projecting modern categories onto a medieval contemplative whose primary framework remained orthodox Trinitarianism.

7.5 Ecumenical and Interfaith Resonance

In recent decades, Revelations of Divine Love has attracted attention beyond Roman Catholic and Anglican circles, informing Protestant, Orthodox, and even non-Christian engagements with themes of universal compassion and eschatological hope. Reactions vary: some celebrate a perceived convergence with more universalist or dialogical outlooks; others express concern that such readings mute the text’s specifically Christocentric and ecclesial dimensions.

Overall, scholars widely regard Julian’s work as a landmark in vernacular theology, women’s literary history, and the long conversation about how to reconcile divine goodness with human suffering.