IVP Readers’ Choice Award

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love is truly an astounding work: an inspired example of Christian mysticism, a unique contribution to Christian theology, the first book in English known to have been written by a woman. But it can also be a daunting work. Veronica Mary Rolf, who has been studying Julian’s text for decades, serves as a trustworthy guide for readers willing to take up and read Julian’s work. Rolf not only sets Julian’s life and text in its fourteenth-century context, but she also sheds light on each of Julian’s sixteen revelations. She then digs deeper into Julian’s theological themes, including her innovative mystical theology of the motherhood of God, and she offers a chapter on developing a retreat based on Julian’s work. Throughout, Rolf takes a deeply contemplative approach to Julian, illuminating our understanding of this extraordinary woman, her enduring work, and the revelation that all shall be well.
Books in the Explorer’s Guide series are accessible guidebooks for those studying the great Christian texts and theologians from church history, helping readers explore the context in which these texts were written and navigate the rich yet complex terrain of Christian theology.