Divine Multiplicity: Trinities, Diversities, and the Nature of Relation

Acknowledgments

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S Given that this collection of essays emerged out of Drew Theological School’s tenth annual Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium, our acknowledgment of and thanks to those who have contributed to bringing this book to publication must begin with the Theological School’s incomparable team of administrative assistants, Michelle Campbell, Maria Iannuzzi , Alma Tuitt, and Meghan Harnois, together with the very capable staff in Drew University’s offices for housing, hospitality, and catering with whom they worked closely to ensure the success of the colloquium for which these essays were originally written. The amazing graduate student members of our planning committee, Holly Hillgardner and Sara Rosenau, were at the front lines of planning and organization from the conception of the colloquium’s theme through to the last of the participants being safely delivered to the airport to catch their return flights home. The director of the series, Catherine Keller, was again at the helm of the entire process. The Drew colloquium of 2010 was blessed with a rich table of thoughtful , adventurous minds and distinctive, creative voices. As with every colloquium in the series, invited participants were not limited to those who are asked to write and present essays for discussion. We also invited scholars, teachers, and activists working in pertinent fields of discourse to respond to the essays and contribute in various ways to the conversation. These included two scholars from Drew’s College of Liberal Arts, Karen Pechilis , specializing in Hinduism and Asian religions, and Christopher Taylor, specializing in Islam and Islamic mysticism. Drew Theological School’s x | Acknowledgments comparative theologian, Hyo-Dong Lee, was joined by colleagues in the field, John Thatamanil and Michelle Voss Roberts. Also gathered around the table were theologians Serene Jones, Laurel Schneider, Peter Heltzel, and Jason Mahn, together with Rabbi Lawrence Troster, rabbinic scholar in residence for an interfaith coalition addressing environmental issues, and Callid Keefe-Perry, a graduate student at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. This table of conversation partners constituted the original audience for these essays, and the conversation that ensued in response to the essays no doubt contributed to their final versions which we have gathered into this book. And that process of “gathering”—and proofreading , and formatting, and proofreading again—was ably assisted by another team of Drew graduate students: Beatrice Marovich, Jacob Erickson, and Michael Oliver. Finally, we want to thank our friends at Fordham University Press for their continuing partnership in the TTC series. A special thanks is reserved for Helen Tartar, for her inspired vision for and leadership in that partnership . We are also indebted to Thomas C. Lay, for his particular editorial guidance of this volume’s journey to publication. D I V I N E M U LT I P L I C I T Y ...