Julian of Norwich, theologian
By: Denys Turner
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 262
ISBN-13: 9780300163919
Subjects: Salvation; Sin; Christianity
Description: 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: A note on Julian's text; title: Providence and sin; title: Sin and salvation; title: Conclusion : Julian's soteriology.