“Who Does She Think She is?”

Abstract

Is the Christian woman mystic's audacious desire for union with God a sign of a very un-Christian pride? How can medieval women, officially denied access to teaching and preaching, speak authoritatively on religious issues while at the same time maintaining the humility expected of them? The paper explores both popular and scholarly claims about Christian women mystics' narcissism and argues that, properly understood, many mystical texts are grounded in a paradoxical interplay of humility and chosenness by means of which the works purport to authorize themselves.