In the 1914 Princeton Theological Review, (105–123), B. B. Warfield published an in-depth review of four books written by Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941). Underhill, who was the author over 30 books, considered herself a “Christian mystic,” and wrote numerous books on the inner life, spirituality, worship, and several on mysticism. She is venerated on the liturgical calendar by several Anglican national churches, and her works are still read in a number of mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, and even in some evangelical circles where religious experience is paramount and pursued.
If you know anything about B. B. Warfield, you know where this “review” is going. Warfield was, let’s just say, not a fan of Mrs. Underhill. As a scholar and a Kentucky-bred gentleman, Warfield was usually respectful, if tough on those who rejected the supernatural, historical, and miraculous elements of Christianity (i.e., miracles, the virgin birth, the veracity of the New Testament, etc.). When he reviewed several of her recent books in one lengthy review essay (which has been reprinted in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield: Critical Reviews, vol. 10 (334-356), it is immediately clear that his patience with her work and influence has come to an end—the reason for his terse “review” of her efforts.
The four volumes from Underhill under review include:
Mysticism. A Study in the Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness (1911).
The Mystic Way. A Psychological Study in Christian Origins (1913).
Immanence. A Book of Verses (1912).
The Miracles of Our Lady Saint Mary: brought out of divers tongues and newly set forth in English (1906).
Warfield begins by recounting how Underhill’s previous and well-known novels reveal a number of her operating assumptions. The novels, “already reveal to us the intensity of her engagement with what is loosely called the mystical aspects of life, and no doubt embody, in an imaginative form, much of what she would consider symbolically at least wholesome instruction for our sense-preoccupied world" (334).
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