Unlike other brief summaries of Julian's life in 14th-century Norwich, England, this book goes in-depth to uncover the political, cultural, social and religious milieu that formed and deeply influenced her development as a woman and a Christian mystic.

Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love is truly an astounding work: an inspiring example of Christian mysticism, a unique contribution to Christian theology, the first book in English known to have been written by a woman. Veronica Mary Rolf guides us as we read, examining its fourteenth-century context and illuminating our understanding of this enduring work.

Julian of Norwich (ca. 1343&–ca. 1416), a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, and John Wyclif, is the earliest woman writer of English we know about. Although she described herself as &“a simple creature unlettered,&” Julian is now widely recognized as one of the great speculative theologians of the Middle Ages, whose thinking about God as love has made a permanent contribution to the tradition of Christian belief. Despite her recent popularity, however, Julian is usually read only in translation and often in extracts rather than as a whole. This book presents a much-needed new edition of Julian&’s writings in Middle English, one that makes possible the serious reading and study of her thought not just for students and scholars of Middle English but also for those with little or no previous experience with the language. &• Separate texts of both Julian&’s works, A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love, with modern punctuation and paragraphing and partly regularized spelling. &• A second, analytic edition of A Vision printed underneath the text of A Revelation to show what was left out, changed, or added as Julian expanded the earlier work into the later one. &• Facing-page explanatory notes, with translations of difficult words and phrases, cross-references to other parts of the text, and citations of biblical and other sources. &• A thoroughly accessible introduction to Julian&’s life and writings. &• An appendix of medieval and early modern records relating to Julian and her writings. &• An analytic bibliography of editions, translations, scholarly studies, and other works. The most distinctive feature of this volume is the editors&’ approach to the manuscripts. Middle English editions habitually retain original spellings of their base manuscript intact and only emend that manuscript when its readings make no sense. At once more interventionist and more speculative, this edition synthesizes readings from all the surviving manuscripts, with careful justification of each choice involved in this process. For readers who are not concerned with textual matters, the result will be a more readable and satisfying text. For Middle English scholars, the edition is intended both as a hypothesis and as a challenge to the assumptions the field brings to the business of editing.

Suddenly There is God plunges us into the key stories of biblical characters who find themselves caught up in the divine-human drama. With unique insight, it relates these stories directly to the distinct stages of our own lives: being created, falling from grace, leaving the childhood ark, hearing God’s call, gaining freedom, embracing covenant, praying the psalms, learning forgiveness, choosing love, and expecting resurrection. The scenes unfold before our eyes like a riveting play or film, as we discover with astonishment how closely the progression of Old and New Testament stories reflects our own spiritual journey. Packed with historical content and written with dramatic intensity, Suddenly There is God suggests contemplative ways for us to nurture an ardent expectation of encountering God. By identifying with the biblical characters—their conflicts, difficult choices, and realizations—we recognize how divine presence continually breaks into our own life story. This book is a valuable resource for clergy, students, and spiritual seekers who long to experience the drama of sacred Scripture as deeply personal revelation.

Christ's bodily resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith; at least, it is supposed to be. But how often do we really consider what that means? Living Resurrected Lives explores what it would take for Christians to understand and believe so clearly in resurrection--both Christ's glorification and the promise of our own--that our lives would be radically transformed by that faith right now. We take a daringly integrated approach, balancing careful consideration of sacred Scripture with attention to history, theology, and personal contemplative practice. We offer arguments to re-establish a firm bedrock for belief in the Gospel accounts, suggest a new theological perspective that integrates scientific insights into quantum uncertainty with reflections on the malleable nature of identity, and provide heart-stirring guided meditations for daily practice. We elucidate St. Paul's teachings on the transformation of the body and grapple with age-old conundrums about decaying corpses and the continuity of personal identity: What dies? What lives on? We revisit early Christian intuitions about the sublime qualities of the glorified body and explore how we might cultivate such qualities through our own individual practice. Thus we propose an embodied resurrection mysticism that can permeate every moment of our lives.

Kate Tristam is a well-known island resident whose talks on the history of Lindisfarne hold visitors spellbound. A historian and a priest in the Church of England, she is ideally qualified to tell the remarkable story of this captivating place. From its misty beginnings as part of the mainland in the Stone Age right up to the present day, this popular history covers: its formation as an island, the Roman and Anglo-Saxon eras, the influence of Columba and Iona, Lindisfarne's own apostle, Aidan, the making of the Lindisfarne Gospels, Cuthbert, Cedd, Chad and Aidan's other followers, Hilda and the community at Whitby, Bede and the monastic tradition, the coming of the Vikings, the Benedictine years, the dissolution of the monasteries, and more.

Tropologies studies the medieval and early modern theory of morality in scripture, arguing that tropology is both a way to interpret the Bible and a theory of literary invention.