Overview

Laughing at the Devil is an invitation to see the world with a medieval visionary now known as Julian of Norwich, believed to be the first woman to have written a book in English. (We do not know her given name, because she became known by the name of a church that became her home.) Julian ""saw our Lord scorn [the Devil's] wickedness"" and noted that ""he wants us to do the same."" In this impassioned, analytic, and irreverent book, Amy Laura Hall emphasizes Julian's call to scorn the Devil. Julian of Norwich envisioned courage during a time of fear. Laughing at the Devil describes how a courageous woman transformed a setting of dread into hope, solidarity, and resistance.

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9781478000259

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A book to read with the heart as well as the mind. -- Willard E. Roth * Sharing the Practice * In Laughing at the Devil, Amy Laura Hall urges her own readers to read Julian [of Norwich] and to keep thinking along with her. This brief study is worthy of careful reading. . . . Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, general readers. -- G.H. Shriver * Choice * Although Hall addresses serious topics, her treatment is boundless and joyful. Those familiar with Julian's writings should find this unique take to be contemporary and relevant. -- James Wetherbee * Library Journal *

Although Hall addresses serious topics, her treatment is boundless and joyful. Those familiar with Julian's writings should find this unique take to be contemporary and relevant. -- James Wetherbee * Library Journal *

A fresh take on Julian of Norwich that you don't need a divinity degree to understand. . . . In Hall's hands, Julian the anchorite mystic becomes a spiritual friend. She may have prayed in mean and miserable times, but she gets a generous vision of God's love for us all. -- Lillian Daniel * Christian Century * A labor of love: a testament to the richness of Julian's writing and the balm of a new theological perspective for those deeply hurt by life. . . . For readers grappling with tragedy, pain, and bewilderment at the world's evils, Laughing at the Devil makes meaningful Julian's revelation that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well. -- Andrew K. Lee * Reading Religion * Amy Laura Hall's Laughing at the Devil is valuable because she resists a bloodless and spiritualized vision of Julian's theology. Covenant theologians seeking to understand the significance of Waldenstroem's insistence that the cross was a demonstration of divine love will find in Hall's Julian an important conversation partner. -- Jodie Boyer Hatlem * Covenant Quarterly * A book to read with the heart as well as the mind. -- Willard E. Roth * Sharing the Practice * In Laughing at the Devil, Amy Laura Hall urges her own readers to read Julian [of Norwich] and to keep thinking along with her. This brief study is worthy of careful reading. . . . Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, general readers. -- G.H. Shriver * Choice * Although Hall addresses serious topics, her treatment is boundless and joyful. Those familiar with Julian's writings should find this unique take to be contemporary and relevant. -- James Wetherbee * Library Journal *

"""Although Hall addresses serious topics, her treatment is boundless and joyful. Those familiar with Julian's writings should find this unique take to be contemporary and relevant."" -- James Wetherbee * Library Journal * ""In Laughing at the Devil, Amy Laura Hall urges her own readers to read Julian [of Norwich] and to keep thinking along with her. This brief study is worthy of careful reading. . . . Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, general readers."" -- G.H. Shriver * Choice * ""A book to read with the heart as well as the mind."" -- Willard E. Roth * Sharing the Practice * ""Amy Laura Hall’s Laughing at the Devil is valuable because she resists a bloodless and spiritualized vision of Julian’s theology. Covenant theologians seeking to understand the significance of Waldenström’s insistence that the cross was a demonstration of divine love will find in Hall’s Julian an important conversation partner."" -- Jodie Boyer Hatlem * Covenant Quarterly * ""A labor of love: a testament to the richness of Julian’s writing and the balm of a new theological perspective for those deeply hurt by life. . . .  For readers grappling with tragedy, pain, and bewilderment at the world’s evils, Laughing at the Devil makes meaningful Julian’s revelation that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."" -- Andrew K. Lee * Reading Religion * ""A fresh take on Julian of Norwich that you don’t need a divinity degree to understand. . . . In Hall’s hands, Julian the anchorite mystic becomes a spiritual friend. She may have prayed in mean and miserable times, but she gets a generous vision of God’s love for us all."" -- Lillian Daniel * Christian Century * ""This is a pastoral and prophetic book for all readers who seek a centering hope in times of overwhelming oppression and pain, in which a toxic blend of religion and politics entices people to cope with the fear of pain or their present suffering through various mechanisms of control and punishment—be it shame, intimidation, or scrutinizing methods accounting for grace and redemption. Selective in its sources, teachers of theology and ethics will find this a great companion book to reflect with students on how to translate historical theological writings into real lived embodied situations in ways that matter. . . ."" -- Heike Peckruhn * Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics * ""Amy Laura Hall has written a short book about Julian of Norwich and ethics that is both a laugh-out-loud read and an entirely serious reflection on living in the safety of the cross. Hall’s reflections made this medieval English visionary come alive for me, and she also helped me enable Julian to seem relevant—even someone to celebrate—for undergraduates living in a time of pandemic, political division, and fear. . . . I recommend this book highly for scholars, for students, and for anyone wanting to understand Julian of Norwich and reflect on the cross in a fresh and invigorating way."" -- Robert W. Heimburger * Studies in Christian Ethics *"

Author Information

Amy Laura Hall is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke University Divinity School. She is the author of Kierkegaard and the Treachery of Love; Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction; and Writing Home, With Love: Politics for Neighbors and Naysayers.

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