Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) was an influential English author and theologian known for her extensive writings on mysticism and spirituality. Born in Wolverhampton to a family with little religious background, Underhill became deeply engaged in religious studies after her confirmation in the Anglican Church. She attended King's College in London and began exploring themes of religious significance through her writing, publishing her first poetry collection in 1902 and her novel, *The Gray World*, in 1904. Her landmark work, *Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness*, published in 1911, presents mysticism as a vital aspect of human experience, relevant to all cultures, not just Christianity.
Underhill's writings often emphasize the interconnectedness of art, poetry, and the divine, proposing that both poets and mystics seek to honor eternal beauty. In addition to her literary contributions, she was the first laywoman to lead retreats in the Anglican Church and was recognized for her impact on Christian spirituality with an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1939. Her legacy continues to be honored within the Episcopal Church, reflecting her significant role as a spiritual leader and poet of theology.
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Evelyn Underhill
Author
- Born: December 6, 1857
- Birthplace: Wolverhampton, England
- Died: June 15, 1941
- Place of death: Hampstead, London, England
Biography
Evelyn Underhill was born to Arthur Underhill and Alice Lucy Ironmonger Underhill on December 6, 1875, in Wolverhampton, England. Sir Arthur, as he was later known, was a barrister, or lawyer, at Lincoln’s Inn in London. He was also known for founding the Royal Cruising Club and spent much time on the family’s ship, the Amoretta. Evelyn Underhill was privately educated until she was thirteen, and from 1888 to 1891 stayed in Sandgate House, a boarding school near Folkestone. She joined her parents for vacations on the Amoretta beginning in 1888. One of the frequent guests on the family ship was Hubert Stuart Moore, a lawyer who became Evelyn Underhill’s husband in 1907.
Underhill’s family had little interest in religion, aside from an uncle who became an Anglican priest. She was confirmed on March 11, 1892, at Christ Church in Folkestone, and took her first communion on Easter Sunday at St. Paul’s in Sandgate. That same year she won first prize in a short-story competition promoted by Hearth and Home magazine. After boarding school, she attended King’s College in London. Beginning in 1898, she also began taking trips to Europe with her mother, giving the budding writer an opportunity to study Roman Catholic art.
Underhill’s earliest book of poetry, A Bar-Lamb’s Ballad Book, published in 1902, was amateurish and imitative, but at times revealed her developing interests in religious themes. Her first novel, The Gray World, published in 1904, shows her further development of religious ideas and presents her most prominent theme that poets and mystics, although using different languages, are all devoted to honoring eternal, divine Beauty. In 1911, Underhill published Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness, which was to become one of her most influential books. She presented mysticism as the pinnacle of human development and connected it with daily life. Her approach was cross-cultural, as she attempted to describe mystical experiences as being significant to all people, not just Christians.
In 1912, Underhill published her first selection of devotional poems, Immanence: A Book of Verses. As in other writings, this collection emphasizes both God’s transcendence and immanence, these terms being used as titles for two of the major poems. By 1916, Underhill published her last book of poems, Theophanies: A Book of Verses. In 1921, Underhill gave at Oxford University the Upton Lectures, later published as The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-Day. As in most of her works, especially her poetry, she presented the imagination as a central factor in mysticism.
Some have tried to characterize Underhill’s work as being more universalistic than Christian. Her next major work, Worship, first published in 1929, demonstrated how her ideas were firmly rooted in, and intended for, the Christian community, both the Anglican and the Roman Catholic. In 1939 the University of Aberdeen gave her an honorary doctorate in theology, or D.D. She died on June 15, 1941, in Hampstead, London.
Evelyn Underhill was the first laywoman to lead retreats in the Anglican Church, and since 1988 has been commemorated in the Episcopalian calendar as an esteemed spiritual leader. She was a poet of theology, finding in aesthetics the beginning point for approaching God.