Julian of Norwich on God's Wrath  

Posted by Joe Rawls

Julian of Norwich lived ca 1342-1416 (few details  of her life are known, including her birth and death dates).  It is known that she lived as an anchoress in a cell located in a church in the East Anglian market town of Norwich.  Her fame rests on Revelations of Divine Love, a text describing visions she had during a prolonged period of illness.  It was, incidentally, the first literary work in Middle English by a woman. 

The excerpt below from chapter 46 is striking in its treatment of God's wrath.  Or rather, the non-existence of God's wrath.  In our own day, when entire ministries are based upon the presumed wrath of God, Julian's remarks will come across as hopeful and outrageous in equal measure.




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But notwithstanding all this, I saw truthfully that our Lord was never angry, nor ever shall be, for he is God:  He is good, He is life, He is truth, He is love, He is peace; and His power, His wisdom, His love, and His unity do not allow Him to be angry (For I saw truly that it is against the character of His power to be angry, and against the character of His wisdom, and against the character of His goodness).  God is the goodness that cannot be angry, for He is nothing but goodness.  Our soul is one-ed to Him who is unchangeable goodness, and between God and our soul is neither anger nor forgiveness, as He sees it.  For our soul is so completely one-ed to God by His own goodness, that there can be absolutely nothing at all separating God and soul.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at Tuesday, May 08, 2012 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

1 comments

I love the icon here of Julian...do you know where I could get a copy?

May 24, 2012 at 10:19 AM

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