ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS,

PEMA CHODRON, &

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN
BY: ALEX OLZINSKI
ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS

• Protestant
• Daughter of a clergyman
• Devout Christian despite lack of faith in
the church
• Author, Poet
• Wrote many books, including The Gates
Ajar
THE GATES AJAR (1868)

• First of three novels referred to the

author’s “Spiritualist Novels”
• Main character mourns the loss of her
brother and struggles with faith
• Faith restored after aunt reassures her and
presents an idea of what heaven is like
• Main character is a portrayal of Phelps’
own self
• Novel also used to criticize the church
during this time
PEMA CHODRON

• Buddhist
• Became a novice nun in 1974
• Received full monastic ordination in the
Chinese lineage of Buddhism in 1981
• Resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape
Breton, Nova Scotia
• Leading expert in meditation
• Author
RADICAL TEACHINGS

• Helping to establish the monastic

tradition in the West
• Continues work with Buddhists of all
traditions, sharing ideas and teachings
• Known for her charming and down-to-
earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism
for Western audiences
HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

• Catholic Nun
• Writer, composer, philosopher, Christian
mystic, German Benedictine abbess
• Known for her visions and music
compositions
• Founded convents near Bingen and
Eibingen
• Pope Benedict XVI gave her canonization
and title Doctor of the Church
SCIVIAS (“KNOW THE WAYS”)

• Hildegard’s most famous writing

• Describes 26 of Hildegard’s most vivid
visions
• Deals with interconnectivity of man in
the universe
• Concept that man represents a
microcosm of the cosmic macrocosm
POLYMATH

• Def.: one who shows brilliance in

multiple fields
• Hildegard had immense knowledge in
natural science, despite lack of
instruction
• Weird how a religious nun would use
science, especially during her time
COMPARISONS

• All three women are devoted to their religions

• All three prolific writers
• Each brought new, radical ideas for their times
• Phelps and the afterlife, Chodron and meditation in everyday life, Hildegard and natural
science in religion
CONTRASTS

• Only Phelps did not enter the religious life

• Phelps only one to openly have criticisms against faith
• Only Hildegard made crucial contributions to core of religion
• Music compositions, visions
WHY STUDY THEM?

• Novels are great contributions to their respective religions

• Leading women of their faiths who brought in positive changes
• Influential to those even outside of their respective religions
WORKS CITED

• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward.” Encyclopædia

Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Aug. 2018,
www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Stuart-Phelps-Ward.
• “Scivias Summary and Images.” Healthy Hildegard, 23 July 2018,
www.healthyhildegard.com/scivias-illustrations/.
• “St. Hildegard of Bingen.” Catholic Online, www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3777.
• “The Gates Ajar.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Oct. 2018,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_Ajar.
• “The Pema Chodron Foundation.” The Pema Chodron Foundation, pemachodronfoundation.org/.