Overview

Full Product Details

9780190455538

Table of Contents

Reviews

How can one book offer such a dazzling exploration of these two female poets, startling in their medieval radicality and worlds apart-and yet remain so grippingly, lucidly attractive to non-specialists and scholars alike? Holly Hillgardner's adventure into 'passionate non-attachment' heightens the transdisciplinary importance of comparative theology. She meticulously entangles these European and Asian mysticisms -oddly current in their 'love-longing, ' in 'becoming undone, ' in 'noble unfaith.' Their difference from each other and from us becomes a conduit of transformation, soulful and worldly. --Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University Holly Hillgardner's Longing and Letting Go is a welcome contribution to the growing field of comparative theology. Expert in the methods of the field, consciously building on the work of others yet doing something new, Hillgardner brings to bear fresh energies as she listens to the enthralling songs of Hadewijch and Mirabai, while hearing too the challenges of a feminist comparative theology. 'Passionate non-attachment' is both a yogic and scholarly ideal, poignant, elusive, yet relevant for believers and for lovers wishing too the betterment of the world, and for all of us intent on learning across religious borders, while still faithful to our first loves. --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University In this splendid counterpoint of comparative method and ethical sensibility, the voices of Mirabai and Hadewijch sound as fresh and relevant as Hillgardner's own. Together, their longing melodies unsettle feminist theology with an ambiguous eros. Acknowledging the pain of separation that accompanies loves both human and divine, Hillgardner calls readers to passionate worldly action accented with the paradoxical wisdom of non-attachment. --Michelle Voss Roberts, author of Dualities: A Theology of Difference

How can one book offer such a dazzling exploration of these two female poets, startling in their medieval radicality and worlds apart-and yet remain so grippingly, lucidly attractive to non-specialists and scholars alike? Holly Hillgardner's adventure into 'passionate non-attachment' heightens the transdisciplinary importance of comparative theology. She meticulously entangles these European and Asian mysticisms -oddly current in their 'love-longing, ' in 'becoming undone, ' in 'noble unfaith.' Their difference from each other and from us becomes a conduit of transformation, soulful and worldly. --Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University Holly Hillgardner's <em>Longing and Letting Go</em> is a welcome contribution to the growing field of comparative theology. Expert in the methods of the field, consciously building on the work of others yet doing something new, Hillgardner brings to bear fresh energies as she listens to the enthralling songs of Hadewijch and Mirabai, while hearing too the challenges of a feminist comparative theology. 'Passionate non-attachment' is both a yogic and scholarly ideal, poignant, elusive, yet relevant for believers and for lovers wishing too the betterment of the world, and for all of us intent on learning across religious borders, while still faithful to our first loves. --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University In this splendid counterpoint of comparative method and ethical sensibility, the voices of Mirabai and Hadewijch sound as fresh and relevant as Hillgardner's own. Together, their longing melodies unsettle feminist theology with an ambiguous eros. Acknowledging the pain of separation that accompanies loves both human and divine, Hillgardner calls readers to passionate worldly action accented with the paradoxical wisdom of non-attachment. --Michelle Voss Roberts, author of <em>Dualities: A Theology of Difference</em>

"""Hillgardner is to be commended for a remarkable contribution to Hindu-Christian studies (not to mention comparative theology, feminist theology, and the comparative study of mysticism). The volume is quite readable--without losing any scholarly facility. It may be beyond the reach of many undergraduate students, but the book will be immensely valuable to graduate students, scholars, and anyone interested in Mirabai, Hadewijch, and/or comparative studies.""--Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies ""Holly Hillgardner provides us with an excellent text that can creditably take its place alongside the many works of comparative theology that are increasingly emerging in this new and developing field.""--Reading Religion ""How can one book offer such a dazzling exploration of these two female poets, startling in their medieval radicality and worlds apart-and yet remain so grippingly, lucidly attractive to non-specialists and scholars alike? Holly Hillgardner's adventure into 'passionate non-attachment' heightens the transdisciplinary importance of comparative theology. She meticulously entangles these European and Asian mysticisms -oddly current in their 'love-longing,' in 'becoming undone,' in 'noble unfaith.' Their difference from each other and from us becomes a conduit of transformation, soulful and worldly."" --Catherine Keller, George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University ""Holly Hillgardner's Longing and Letting Go is a welcome contribution to the growing field of comparative theology. Expert in the methods of the field, consciously building on the work of others yet doing something new, Hillgardner brings to bear fresh energies as she listens to the enthralling songs of Hadewijch and Mirabai, while hearing too the challenges of a feminist comparative theology. 'Passionate non-attachment' is both a yogic and scholarly ideal, poignant, elusive, yet relevant for believers and for lovers wishing too the betterment of the world, and for all of us intent on learning across religious borders, while still faithful to our first loves."" --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University ""In this splendid counterpoint of comparative method and ethical sensibility, the voices of Mirabai and Hadewijch sound as fresh and relevant as Hillgardner's own. Together, their longing melodies unsettle feminist theology with an ambiguous eros. Acknowledging the pain of separation that accompanies loves both human and divine, Hillgardner calls readers to passionate worldly action accented with the paradoxical wisdom of non-attachment."" --Michelle Voss Roberts, author of Dualities: A Theology of Difference"

Author Information

Holly Hillgardner, a comparative theologian, teaches religious studies and philosophy at Bethany College. She splits her time between New York City and Bethany, West Virginia. An inveterate traveler, she can be found between semesters surfing small waves and practicing triangle pose in locales far and wide.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available