Religious experience and the new woman : the life of Lily Dougall

In Religious Experience and the New Woman, Joanna Dean traces the development of liberal spirituality in the early 20th century through the life and work of Lily Dougall (1858--1923), a New Woman novelist who became known as a religious essayist and Anglican modernist. Dean examines the connections between Dougall's marginal position as a woman intellectual and her experiential, combatively iconoclastic theology, and demonstrates that through her writing and mentoring, Dougall contributed to the shaping of modern spirituality.Lily Dougall described religious experience -- the sense of the presence of God -- as the "rock" of her theology. Dean observes the protean nature of this rock as Dougall moved from a submissive holiness faith, to a mystical Mauricean sense of the Kingdom of God, to the relational theology of personal idealism, and reveals how psychology, which appeared to provide scientific support for her religious beliefs, eventually threatened to undermine her experiential faith. "In Religious Experience and the New Woman, Joanna Dean traces the development of liberal spirituality in the early twentieth century through the life and work of Lily Dougall (1858-1923), a New Woman novelist who became known as a religious essayist and Anglican modernist. Dean examines the connections between Dougall's marginal position as a woman intellectual and her experiential, combatively iconoclastic, theology, and demonstrates that through her writing and mentoring, Dougall contributed to the shaping of modern spirituality." "The daughter of Canada's leading evangelical publisher, Dougall negotiated a crisis of faith with recourse to the Broad Church theology of F. D. Maurice. She earned a university degree through private study in Britain, and with the support of a community of educated women, including her companion, Sophie Earp, she wrote a series of melodramatic and intellectually ambitious novels before turning to theological essays. She was influential in the dissemination of liberal theology, especially among students, through her work with the Cumnor School and the Anglican modernist movement." "Through her writing and mentoring, Dougall contributed to the shaping of modern spirituality. While the distinctions that modernists drew between the tired theology of the church and the living religious experience have become widely accepted, Dean suggests that this is a troubled legacy. She offers a contextualized intellectual history of experiential faith, focusing upon Dougall's difficulties in finding voice as a woman theologian, and concludes that experiential faith is a deeply gendered construction that offers an unstable base for feminist theology."--BOOK JACKET In Religious Experience And The New Woman, Joanna Dean Traces The Development Of Liberal Spirituality In The Early 20th Century Through The Life And Work Of Lily Dougall (1858--1923), A New Woman Novelist Who Became Known As A Religious Essayist And Anglican Modernist. Dean Examines The Connections Between Dougall's Marginal Position As A Woman Intellectual And Her Experiential, Combatively Iconoclastic Theology, And Demonstrates That Through Her Writing And Mentoring, Dougall Contributed To The Shaping Of Modern Spirituality. Lily Dougall Described Religious Experience -- The Sense Of The Presence Of God -- As The Rock Of Her Theology. Dean Observes The Protean Nature Of This Rock As Dougall Moved From A Submissive Holiness Faith, To A Mystical Mauricean Sense Of The Kingdom Of God, To The Relational Theology Of Personal Idealism, And Reveals How Psychology, Which Appeared To Provide Scientific Support For Her Religious Beliefs, Eventually Threatened To Undermine Her Experiential Faith. "Intellectual freedom and religious faith are usually understood as mutually incompatible; historians caught up in the binary logic of secularization have generally assumed that faith has been the casualty of free thought. Dougall's life suggests otherwise: the two components of her thought operated as a dialectic, each balancing and fueling the other. It was only because her experiential faith satisfied her 'longing soul' that Dougall felt free to pursue biblical criticism, philosophical idealism, and psychology. These intellectual pursuits broadened her understanding of the experience of faith; over time, the experiential evangelicalism of her childhood expanded to incorporate elements of incarnational Anglo-Catholicism, Quaker inner light, and modernist mysticism. What is intriguing is the ease with which these elements combined to create a religious outlook that was profoundly spiritual and also fiercely combatively independent and liberal." An Evangelical Childhood -- Lovereen : An Untold Story -- Gendering The Crisis Of Faith -- She Was Always A Queer Child -- Personal Idealism -- Christian Socialism : The Kingdom Of God Within Us And Around Us -- The Making Of A Modernist Mysticism -- Fellowship -- Body And Soul -- Anglican Modernism. Joanna Dean. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [279]-310) And Index. Examines the spiritual and intellectual origins of feminist theology through the life and writings of Lily Dougall