A Revelation of Weakness: Julian of Norwich, John Caputo, and the Event of Hospitality

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study is foremost a close reading of chapter 22 of revelation nine from Julian of Norwich’s (c. 1343–1416) Revelations of Divine Love. I reflect on the implications of a section from the chapter’s introduction in which Christ asks Julian if she were satisfied (‘payde’) for the suffering he underwent for her. Upon hearing her affirmative response Christ tells her that ‘If thou art payde, I am payde.’. In my analysis, I turn to the interpretive strategies offered by the philosopher and theologian, John Caputo (b. 1940), to reflect on the theological images being presented in this chapter. Specifically, I consider the subordinate depiction of Christ in relation to Julian that this section suggests. To do this, I draw on Caputo’s notion of ‘weak theology’ combined with his idea of ‘the event’ and his ethics of ‘hospitality’ as fruitful hermeneutical strategies for thinking through the Christological implications of this chapter.