Hidden, Sheelah Trefl‚

Sheelah Treflé Hidden is a contemporary scholar specializing in comparative mysticism and interreligious dialogue, particularly focusing on conceptions of divine love across the Abrahamic traditions. Her seminal work, "Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Mystical Perspectives on the Love of God," examines how mystical traditions within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam conceptualize and experience divine love, exploring both convergences and distinctive features in each tradition's approach to intimate communion with the divine. Hidden's scholarship contributes significantly to comparative theology by demonstrating how mystical literature and practice offer unique insights into understanding God across religious boundaries. Her work emphasizes the experiential dimensions of theological knowledge, arguing that mystical accounts of divine love provide essential data for constructing more comprehensive theories about the nature of God and divine-human relationships. Through careful textual analysis and phenomenological comparison, Hidden illuminates how different mystical traditions articulate encounters with divine love while maintaining their distinctive theological frameworks.