Background
Ahlgren was born in Washington on March 30, 1964. She is the daughter of James David and Barbara (Donne) Ahlgren.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570752133/?tag=2022091-20
1999
(This book explains the seven stages of the spiritual jour...)
This book explains the seven stages of the spiritual journey described in the classic "Interior Castle. Here, Teresa of Avila, the great Spanish mystic and theological Doctor of the Church, meticulously (and metaphorically, using striking marriage and nature imagery) details the theological doctrine of transformative union with the incarnate, Triune God that systematically evolved over the course of her lifetime of spiritual experiences and scriptural knowledge. In seven sections of this companion, paralleling those of "Interior Castle, Gillian Ahlgren clearly and methodically explicates each passage of the soul, which is envisioned as a crystal castle made of many rooms-from stillness and contemplative prayer, to humbling self-knowledge, to understanding of the potentiality of the human-divine union, and to the center of the seventh, the place of transformative union, and the deeper, theological insights into God.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080914316X/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(Explored in this book are women's contributions to letter...)
Explored in this book are women's contributions to letter writing in western Europe from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries. The essays represent the first attempt to chart medieval women's achievements in epistolarity, and the contributions to this volume situate the women writers in a historical context and employ a variety of feminist approaches.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812214374/?tag=2022091-20
("An important addition to our understanding and the curre...)
"An important addition to our understanding and the current reconstruction of one of the best-known mystics, reformers, and spiritual writers in history."--Church History "An ambitious book. . . . [Ahlgren] seeks to 'contextualize the life of Teresa the woman and the meaning of Teresa the saint within the Counter-Reformation agenda by exploring the complex and conflicting notions of female sanctity at work in sixteenth-century Spain.' The compelling arguments of the book make it worth reading. . . . Perhaps Ahlgren's most significant contribution to Teresian scholarship is her meticulous assessment of the prolonged theological debate that took place over [Teresa's] person and writings after her death."--Sixteenth Century Journal "This [book] is indispensable to understanding the saint's motivations and accomplishments. Beginning with a carefully documented analysis of the religious climate before the Valdes Index of 1559, Ahlgren focuses on the alumbrados and holy women who claimed spiritual authority on the basis of visions and mental prayer. . . . Impeccably researched and distinguished by a thorough grasp of the theological and political issues of sixteenth-century Spain, the volume is a brilliant argument for how and why Teresa of Avila authorized in writing and action her belief that 'the discovery of God's presence in the soul is a spiritual imperative for all people.'"--Theological Studies
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080148572X/?tag=2022091-20
educator public speaker researcher writer
Ahlgren was born in Washington on March 30, 1964. She is the daughter of James David and Barbara (Donne) Ahlgren.
Ahlgren studied at Oberlin College. She graduated from the college with high honors in 1985 as Bachelor of Arts. She had graduated from Divinity School, University of Chicago with Master of Arts degree, and as Doctor of Philosophy in 1991.
Dr. Ahlgren has been teaching the Christian mystical tradition to college-art students, and adult learners for more than 28 years. Her pastoral commitments include retreat work and spiritual accompaniment of women seeking recovery after domestic violence and women actively in recovery from addiction.
Gillian is the author of six widely acclaimed books. She is an active mentor to women engaging academic careers and pastoral work, helping them to set and achieve professional goals and develop their professional voice. She also works actively with women who have survived domestic violence by designing and providing them with programs in spirituality that encourage personal and vocational development.
As a university educator, she has taught over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as hundreds of adult learners throughout the city.
Gillian's publications, teaching, and workshops allow people today to understand the significance of women’s theological and spiritual contributions to the Christian tradition historically, and this empowers them in their own work, whether as teachers, pastoral workers, business professionals, or care providers.
Gillian has a lot of research works and dissertations. She is an internationally-recognized scholar of the tradition, an experienced spiritual director, and engages a regular practice of contemplative prayer.
Gillian Ahlgren has recently been appointed Director of Xavier University's new Institute for Spirituality and Social Justice.
("An important addition to our understanding and the curre...)
(Explored in this book are women's contributions to letter...)
(This book explains the seven stages of the spiritual jour...)
2005
Quotations:
“My work centers on women’s expressions of religious experience in counter-Reformation Spain. I am also interested in documenting, through a series of studies of individual women, the influence of the Spanish Inquisition on religious life and theology. This work responds to larger questions I have about the nature and effects of the mystical life upon the church and the role of mystical experience—particularly that of women—in Christian theology."
“I study mysticism because I see it as an inherently creative and transformative force. Reading mystical texts allows me to see the many levels of transformation experienced by individuals who then become agents of change and reform in their church and their worlds. Mystical/visionary texts and their reception reception also give us a unique perspective on significant theological and historical questions. Current scholarly energy now being used to understand and define Christian mysticism will certainly generate new avenues for theological advancement in the deepest and richest ways."
“I am currently preparing a book-length study of Francisca de los Apostóles, a sixteenth-century visionary and reformer in Toledo, tried by the Inquisition between 1574 and 1578. I will also attempt a gender-sensitive definition of alumbradismo taken from inquisitional documents."
“I hope to prepare a collection of essays on hagiographical models for women in Golden Age Spain which will provide a clearer sense of how significant aspects of the medieval Christian tradition were ‘translated’ into sixteenth-century Spain.”
Ahlgren married Scott Campbell, and they have a son - Matthew Romero.
