The Intellectual and the Spiritual: Evelyn Underhill

Published May 6, 2009 (15 years ago)
Danger icon
The last modifications of this post were around 15 years ago, some information may be outdated!

My devotions this morning brought me to Evelyn Underhill, a woman during the early twentieth century who brought a lot to the table in developing the spiritual life.

Most notably this morning was this passage, which I think most accurately reflects the state of integration I'm trying to find wtih the various aspects of my life:

In saying this--in insisting that reason has a well-marked and necessary place in the soul's approach to God--I am not advocating a religious intellectualism. I am well aware that it is "by love," as the old mystic said, "God may be gotten and beheld; by thought never." It is humility and love that are essential for successful prayer. But surely it is a mistake to suppose that these qualities cannot exist side by side with an active adn disciplined intelligence.