The Gospel Of Julian Analysis

In juxtaposition to the sin and punishment centric ideology that permeated the teaching of the Church at that time, Julian of Norwich extended her understanding of God’s specifically maternal role to demonstrate God’s innate kindness. Indeed, “God is kind because it is his nature. Goodness-by-nature implies God.” (McGrath 183) To Julian, this very understanding of God being fundamentally kind, and being removed from the role of moral arbiter, is what will lead one away from sin, for the kindness of God inspires kindness within the soul of the individual and from God “to [Julian] was shown no harder hell than sin. For a kind soul has no hell but sin" (Beer). In her understanding, the way to lead humanity away from sin is not through fear of

The conscious acceptance of God into one’s life allows one to be born again on Earth as a newly spiritually aware individual. Additionally, when one dies they are born again through God into the afterlife (Preysner

Her understanding of God as Mother, and in extension as Father, Husband, Brother, and Saviour, places the trinity into an intimate, familial role. Like any family, there is potential for great love, and also great tragedy. It is the responsibility of the faithful to maintain a relationship with God by allowing themselves to be moved by His compassion and so inspired to recreate it on Earth amongst his peers. Sin is not to be punished but is punishment itself, symptomatic of a loss of divine contact. In many ways this seem to set a precedent for the Protestant Reformation that would wreak havoc in Europe in the upcoming centuries. God and religion are a personal matter, not a struggle over the world between holiness and sin but instead a struggle within each