Hildegard Overview

In this module we move from ancient China to medieval Europe and will study the work of Hildegard of Bingen who was really a Christian Platonist.  She believed that the existence of all creation was in the Divine mind before creation and when the word of God resounded it came into being. For her, divinity is round like a wheel and the image of God (imago dei) is imprinted on every human and exists in the soul and also in the body. Creativity is central to her idea of the divine and since humans are created in that image, she feels it is imperative that they also create.

Hildegard was born in 1098 in Sponheim, Germany near the Rhine River, the youngest of ten children in a family of free nobility in the service of Count Meginhard.  She experienced visions from a very young age and at the age of eight became an oblate in the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg under the care of an older visionary nun named Jutta.  Hildegard learned to read and write under Jutta's tutelage and also learned to play the ten-stringed psaltery most likely from a monk named Volmar who probably also taught her simple psalm notation.  When Jutta died Hildegard was elected leader or magistra of her community and eventually moved her monastery to Rupertsberg in 1150. Volmar became the provost of this community and served as Hildegard's confessor and scribe.

Hildegard's visions began at a very young age and continued throughout her lifetime.  She claimed to see all things in the light of God through her senses and called these experiences visio. As is true with all mystics she had a direct connection with the divine that was not mediated through others. At age 42 Hildegard received instructions from God to write down a vision she received.  However, she was hesitant to do so and became physically ill.  It was not until she began writing that she received strength and recovered from her illness. Her first text Scivias or "Know the Ways" describe this process and interior struggle.

The text we will study in this course comes from her later work known as "The Solutions to 38 Questions of Hildegard of Bingen". This was translated from Latin into English in 2014 by Dr Beverly Kienzle, a Harvard Divinity School professor.  In this text Hildegard discusses difficult passages of scripture and other questions that are hard to understand and at times seem contradictory.  She writes in the standard genre of exegesis and her interpretations were widely sought in her time and continue to be studied today. The two questions and solutions you will read deal with the creation story as expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures in Genesis.

Assignment

Hildegard Discussion Post

After reading philosophers from Ancient Greece, Africa and China can you hear echoes of their ideas in Hildegard? What are some similarities and differences between any of these and Hildegard's writings?  Do you think science and faith are in opposition to each other or can they be complimentary?  What do you think Hildegard would say about the state of our environment today? What is a tangible way that you use your creative potential in your life today? Write a 500-word essay answering any of these questions that are important to you and include your response to Hildegard von Bingen.  Feel free to do further research on your own if this is your first encounter with her thoughts and visions. Her music is also a great legacy.  Enjoy this composition of hers set to contemporary accompaniment.