"To understand both the theological and spatial parameters, Davis considers the mystical experience as being not only an exclusively "inner" apprehension but also an embodied one that takes place in what she designates as "mystical space." In conception mystical space is analogous to the literary figure of the mise en abyme, an impression of infinite regress that duplicates within all its layers the qualities of the larger, initiating structure without. Such a conception acknowledges that space has been widely conceptualized through the centuries, and it allows both medieval and contemporary theories of space to be employed in examining the mystics' lives and works".

The Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mysticism that was astonishing for its richness and distinctiveness. The medieval period was unlike any other period of Christianity in producing people who frequently claimed visions of Christ and Mary, uttered prophecies, gave voice to ecstatic experiences, recited poems and songs said to emanate directly from God and changed their ways of life as a result of these special revelations. Many recipients of these alleged divine gifts were women. Yet the female contribution to western Europe's intellectual and religious development is still not well understood. Popular or lay religion has been overshadowed by academic theology, which was predominantly the theology of men. This timely book rectifies the neglect by examining a number of women whose lives exemplify traditions which were central to medieval theology but whose contributions have tended to be dismissed as 'merely spiritual' by today's scholars. In their different ways, visionaries like Richeldis de Faverches (founder of the Holy House at Walsingham, or 'England's Nazareth'), the learned Hildegard of Bingen, Hadewijch of Brabant (exemplary voice of the Beguine tradition of love mysticism), charismatic traveller and pilgrim Margery Kempe and anchoress Julian of Norwich all challenged traditional male scholastic theology. Designed for the use of undergraduate student and general reader alike, this attractive survey provides an introduction to thirteen remarkable women and sets their ideas in context.

2002 Catholic Press Association Award Winner The classical expression of soteriology (salvation theology) has tended to spiritualize salvation and place it on a supernatural plane where it loses contact with the existential lives of people. In the face of this heritage, questions have risen from contemporary experience that challenge the Christian tradition. Does life have meaning? Is love at the core of all reality? In Gifted Origins to Graced Fulfillment, Kerrie Hide searches for responses to these questions. Hide examines the soteriology presented in the Revelations of Divine Love, composed by Julian of Norwich. She analyzes the understanding of salvation expressed in the Visions, or showings of Julian and expands previous theological inquiry into Julian's texts. After demonstrating how Julian's theology is a trinitarian theology of love, Hide addresses each aspect of Julian's soteriology within the framework of her trinitarian formula. The theological precis reveals that, for Julian, salvation is a process of oneing in a mystical, three-part journey from our origins with God to our ultimate return to God. Hide's analysis provides a hermeneutic for examining mystical literature theologically and demonstrates the important contribution mystical theology makes to the broader field of theology. She contributes a systematic study of Julian's understanding of salvation not undertaken previously. In Part One, Hide examines Julian's Visionary experience and her expression of the experience that led others to reflect on, record, and write about her texts. She also presents a hermeneutic for interpreting Julian's showings. Part Two presents Julian's soteriology as a trinitarian soteriology of oneing and explores how our life is in three stages. In Part Three, Hide delves into our gifted origins. She surveys Julian's creation theology and her anthropology. Part Four focuses on Christology. This section presents Christ's role in redemption through the cross, through his work as servant, and through his function as mother. Part Five inquires into graced endings. The chapters examine the present experience of graced fulfillment in the power of the Holy Spirit and the hope for fulfillment in the eschaton. Finally, in Part Six, Hide draws together Julian's understanding of salvation. She appraises the relevance of these teachings for today. Chapters are Julian of Norwich," *A Hermeneutic for Interpreting the Showings, - *Oneing Through the Trinity, - *Oneing in Being, - *Oneing Through the Crucifixion, - *Oneing Through the Servant, - *Oneing Through Christ, Deep Wisdom and Mother, - *Oneing Through the Holy Spirit, - *One ing in the Eschaton, - and *Julian's Spiritual Understanding.

Christianity centers on the life and death of Jesus as Christ. Often Christians focus on the importance of Christ's Sacrifice as the means of human salvation, and the faithful are encouraged to imitate this suffering through self-sacrifice and self-denial. More than a few Christians, particularly women, have found such encouragement to self-sacrifice to be a means for continuing oppression--men over women, colonizers over the colonized, the powerful over the powerless. In The Satisfied Life, Jane McAvoy constructs a feminist theology of atonement--or satisfaction for sin--that draws on the insights of six medieval women mystics: Julian of Norwich, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Hildegard of Bingen, Margery Kempe, Hadewijch of Brabant, and Catherine of Siena. These Christian writers reveal alternatives to a theology of oppression. Salvation, for them, means experiencing the death and resurrection of Christ not as life-denying, but as a life-affirming celebration of God's love for us through the sustaining love of Jesus.