Revelations of Divine Love

 Word Count: 254 

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

"Jesus Christ that doeth Good against evil is our Very Mother: we have our Being of Him where the Ground of Motherhood beginneth, -- with all the sweet Keeping by Love, that endlessly followeth" (Norwich).

    In Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich repeatedly refers to different aspects of Christianity as a "mother." This is seen in the quotation above where she refers to Jesus as a mother because he expresses the love and kindness of God. All of her references to motherhood relate back to traditionally feminine traits such as feeding children and taking care of the sick. She employs adverbs like "homely" and "tenderly." She compares his crucifixion to a mother giving birth - they both endure immense pain to then relieve their children of pain and give them joy. 

    Julian of Norwich blatantly relates motherhood and femininity to the expression of love. While her intention was probably not to make a statement about gender roles, it is still important to understand the values of the time that she plainly expresses in this book. Julian informs the reader that she believes Jesus to be similar to women in his virtues; therefore, she is inadvertently stating that women might be better representations of Jesus. While she brings women closer to holiness in this instance, she also makes a point that Jesus is second to God. She relates God to a father figure because he is the one that created the punishment for sin. He created hell, and he cast Adam, or "All-Man" out of his grace after he fell. Therefore, she is arguing that masculinity makes humans more like God, and femininity makes humans more like Jesus. Because Jesus comes second to God, women come second to men.


of Norwich, Julian. “Revelations of Divine Love.” Julian of Norwich - Revelations of Divine Love, John Ockerbloom, people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN212/julian.html.

Comments

  1. Mia CiccarelliJanuary 21, 2021 at 7:22 AM

    You shared some excellent points such as Norwich most likely did not intend to include gender roles into her work. I enjoyed this reading a-lot, I liked how she compared Jesus with women and motherhood. Her comparison made me think about how they are actually very similar from the points Norwich mentioned.Through their values and actions they are connected. As you mentioned the comparison between Jesus dying on the cross and a women giving birth are both out of love for others.

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  2. Sydney SizemoreFebruary 1, 2021 at 3:34 PM

    I really liked your closing remark that Jesus comes second to God in the same way that women come second to men. While I did not get the same idea from the reading, I think that it shows how despite being a progressive idea for the time, women are still less than men.

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