Julian of Norwich's "Showings": From Vision to Book By Denise Nowakowski Baker (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 439 Julian ofNorwich's "Showings":From Vision toBook. By Denise Nowakowski Baker. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1994. Pp. xi, 215. 829.95.) After having been little read or studied from the time of its composition up through the middle of the twentieth century, the Book of Showings of Julian of Norwich has been the subject of numerous books and articles in recent decades. Denise Baker's work, however, stands out from the others for a number of reasons. For one thing, Baker (an associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro) carefully situates A Book of Showings historically within the whole movement of affective spirituality that was so evident in earlier medieval writers like Anselm of Canterbury, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Bonaventure. Indeed, close correspondences between parts of Julian's text and the works of some earlier authors enable Baker to argue convincingly that Julian was very familiar with the literature of affective piety and so was not the utterly "unlettered" person she has at times been taken to be. Baker also provides black-and-white illustrations of some medieval English religious art to show how such art helped shape what Julian saw in her visions, even though it was almost certainly Julian's own meditation on Christ's passion rather than die artworks themselves that was the primary catalyst for her visionary experience. Most importantly of all, Baker examines at great length Julian's theodicy as this had developed over the twenty or more years that intervened between the composition of the short text of her treatise (probably written shortly after she experienced her "showings" in May, 1373) and that of the long text. Extensive additions in the latter, above all in revelations 13 and 14, show how radically Julian departed from the traditional Augustinian understanding of sin and evil. Whereas Augustine considers sin to be the evil assent of free will and accordingly seeks its origins in individuals who have inherited a propensity to sin and so have to suffer God's punishment or "wrath," Julian looks not to causes and consequences but rather to purposes and ends; her focus is on die divine pedagogy that allows sin to be a means of knowing oneself as well as the loving God who draws to himself all who will be saved. Julian even suggests the possibility of universal salvation; unable to reconcile tíiis rationally with the Church's teaching about eternal damnation for hardened sinners, she nevertheless insists that what is impossible for humans is altogether possible for God, who will "preserve [his] word in everything . . . and make everything well" (revelation 13). Baker's sixth and final chapter is of a different character, being a detailed literary comparison of certain passages from the short text of the Showings with some from the long. With the help offour diagrams, Baker clearly shows that the "re-visioning" diatJulian gave to the long text was far from haphazard, representing instead an intricate interweaving of themes that can enable med- 440 BOOK REVIEWS itative readers to re-enact the gradual enlightenment that came toJulian herself during her years of ruminating over the material. Extensive notes and a fourteen-page list ofworks cited are indicative of the scholarly care that went into the making of this book. Anyone interested in die serious study ofJulian's treatise will find this book extremely valuable. James A. Wiseman, O.S.B. The Catholic University ofAmerica Early Modern European Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy: The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453-1524. By K. J. P. Lowe. [Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture.] (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1993. Pp. xiv, 314. $5995.) Professor K. J. P. Lowe accurately entitles her work; every page of her thoughtful biography emphasizes die political nature of Francesco Soderini's ecclesiastical career, and the nepotism, patronage, and devotion to the Florentine cause that guided it. Exploring archives and libraries in Florence, Rome, Vatican City, and elsewhere, the author paints a sharp and vivid portrait of the Cardinal of Volterra—frugal, astute, cautious, and yet passionately loyal. What is missing is any hint of a priestly vocation. The first half of...