Resurrected writers: Underhill

The dead still speak

An occasional series by Maxwell Ryan

I

n my library is a well-worn paperback that, according to my notations, I read during Lent in 1998, and again during Lent in 2007, though I have dipped into it occasionally at other times. The 105-page book is Lent with Evelyn Underhill, edited by an American priest, G. P. Mellick Belshaw, published (and reprinted) in 1964.

Who, you might ask, is Evelyn Underhill? She was a Christian mystic who, during her lifetime (1875 – 1941), was one of the most widely-read writers on the spiritual life in the first 50 years of the 20th century.

Her book Mysticism, published in 1911, was the most successful book of its time. Though she is not on the list of today’s best selling Christian authors, her ideas appear in books by such contemporary writers on the inner life as Richard J. Foster. In an age when mentoring and spiritual formation has become popular in the evangelical wing of the Church, it is instructive to realize that Underhill is the “grandmother” of this approach to spiritual growth.

Evelyn Underhill was born in England and educated at King’s College for Women in London. She was the first woman to lecture to clergy in the Church of England, the first women to officially conduct spiritual retreats for the church, as well as being one of the first women theologians to lecture at English colleges and universities. Born into the Anglican Church, she became an agnostic but was later strongly attracted to Roman Catholicism and eventually became a prominent Anglo-Catholic. She believed passionately that all of life was sacred; for her, that was what incarnation was about. Underhill’s sacramentalism was the key to her life and to her sustained literary output.

As one writer has said, “Evelyn Underhill is the author responsible for bringing Christian mysticism into the spotlight of scholarship. Her lively intellect, coupled with her flair for the poetic, garnered her much respect during her peak writing years throughout the twenties and continues to the present day.” Writes an admirer, “That her mind was sharp and agile is readily apparent. One thing that strikes readers is the highly professional, intellectual quality of her prose. She writes with authority and commands grudging admiration even from her skeptics. From her pen flows a lucidity and academic rigor that satisfies the expectations of the scholar and orthodox theologian alike, yet delights the ear of the poet.”

Evelyn Underhill was a productive author who published more than 30 books, either under her maiden name (her married name was Moore) or under the pseudonym John Cardolier. Before writing her works on mysticism, she published a small book of satirical poems on legal dilemmas. She then wrote three unconventional, though spiritual novels, similar in approach to the novels of Charles Williams, the great friend of C. S. Lewis. The novels of these two writers explored the sacramental intersection of the physical life with the spiritual life. There was a fascination with, and exploration of, the occult by both Williams and Underhill and this is reflected in their writings. This may be one of the reasons why her work has not been widely embraced by evangelicals.

She was a prolific letter writer, as were many whose formative environment was the Edwardian period. She was a spiritual mentor to many correspondents. Her collected letters, edited by Charles Williams, have a refreshing no-nonsense awareness of spiritual disciplines that are similar in tone and spiritual wisdom to the correspondence of C. S. Lewis. Witty, acerbic, challenging and always insightful, her letters can serve as a primer for frank, yet healing, Christian friendships.

In a letter to a friend on the subject of pride she wrote, “All this preoccupation with your own imperfections is not humility, but an insidious form of spiritual pride… the object of your salvation is God’s glory, not your happiness. Merge yourself in the great life of the Christian family. You have tied yourself up so tight in that accursed individualism of yours – the source of all your difficulties – that it is a marvel you can breathe at all.” In her book The fruits of the Spirit she wrote, “Real love always heals fear and neutralizes egotism, and so, as love grows up in us, we shall worry about ourselves less and less, and admire and delight in God and His other children more and more, and this is the secret of joy.”

Though her writing style may be somewhat dated, her thoughts are direct, fresh and challenging. Most of her publications are available through the Evelyn Underhill Association. Among books by, or about, her are:

• The Grey World (1904) | Kessinger Publishing, 1942 reprint: ISBN 0-7661-0158-4.
• Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness (1911) | reprint 1999, ISBN 1-85168-196-5.
• Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People (1914) | Vintage books 2003 reprint (published with Abba: Meditations Based on the Lord’s Prayer): ISBN 0-375-72570-9
• The Essentials of Mysticism: And Other Essays (1920) | reprint 1999, ISBN 1-85168-195-7.
• The Spiritual Life (1936) | reprint 1999, ISBN 1-85168-197-3.
• Fruits of the Spirit (1942) | reprint 1982, ISBN 0-8192-1314-4
• The Letters of Evelyn Underhill (1943) | editor Charles Williams, Christian Classics 1989 reprint: ISBN 0-87061-172-0
• The Ways of the Spirit, reprint 1993, ISBN 0-8245-1232-4
• Concerning the Inner Life, reprint 1999, ISBN 1-85168-194-9
• Radiance: A Spiritual Memoir, Bernard Bangley ed., 2004, ISBN 1-55725-355-2

Evelyn Underhill is but one of many “forgotten” writers whose insights, expressed in the elegant prose of yesteryear, provide fodder for those contemporary writers who have mined the riches of the past. As you become acquainted with Underhill’s voice you will be amazed at how up-to-date she is. Keep your wits about you as you read, and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance. You’ll be the richer for it.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a part-time chaplain in a Salvation Army hospital in Winnipeg, Canada and a copy editor of theRubicon.

3 Comments to Resurrected writers: Underhill

1. Thanks for this, ‘Concerning the Inner Life’ is available on Amazon for only £5 - I think I’ll treat myself (it’s my birthday today!)

   I was just wondering if you’re going to do an article in this series on Andrew Murray. If any writer needs to brought to the attention of the contemporary church then he does!

   Love and prayers

   A
Andrew Bale on July 6th, 2007

2. Colonel Ryan:

   What wonderfully accessible prose! (Once I tracked down copies of Underhill’s work in Toronto’s Public Library system.)

   Her ideas are contemporary and more important, truthful, unencumbered by a stuffy writing style.

   Thanks for bring Underhill’s work to our attention.

   Andrea
Andrea614Regent on August 22nd, 2007

3. I have taken Evelyn Underhill in a slightly different direction, with my “Outgrowing Catholicisim” and “The Secular Spirit” — http://www.thesecularspirit.com Peace!
Michael Ducey on October 24th, 2008

Leave a comment