Evelyn Underhill and divine initiative: from voluntarist mysticism to Christocentric participation
Abstract
Abstract This article demonstrates that Evelyn Underhill’s 1920s shift from voluntarist mysticism to christocentric participation reflects a modern Anglican retrieval of Augustine’s doctrine of grace. Drawing on her books, letters, and revisions to Mysticism , it argues that wartime disillusionment and Friedrich von Hügel’s guidance reoriented her from Neoplatonic aspiration toward divine initiative, ecclesial emphasis and christological mediation. Underhill emerges as a constructive theologian of grace whose mature outlook challenges accounts that centre religious progress in human effort, insisting instead on God’s prior action and the mediating work of Christ.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
Karl Barth and Christian Theology
Study and Philosophy of Religion
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Scottish Journal of Theology
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 59–69
- Publication date
- 16 January 2026
- Language
- EN