What's On
Menu
Online Course Details
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81893475476?pwd=d3NTVE5ucllGWGR0UDdONzY2am03dz09 | Meeting ID: 818 9347 5476 | Passcode: 805454
This course aims to introduce students to the visionary theology of the 12 Century mystic, St Hildegard von Bingen. Students will read through the first book of her most famous work, the Scivias, which offers an image of the cosmos as a setting for the journey of the soul from creation to redemption. Focusing on the images within (both described and illustrated) as the vehicles for meaning, students will reflect on how Hildegard’s thought touches them from across the centuries.
This course revolves around reading Hildegard’s Scivias. For copyright reasons we are not able to provide scans of each week’s reading, so students will have to provide their own copy. We will be using the Classics of Western Spirituality (Paulist Press, 1990) edition.
For students in the London area, there are several copies available for loan from the Heythrop Library.
Week 1 - Introduction
This session will introduce students to Hildegard in her historical context, as well as provide them with some key theological concepts which will aid in understanding her project. It will also provide an opportunity for students to reflect on just what it means for them to experience Hildegard today.
Week 2 - Visions 1 and 2: Sin
In this session, students will start to read the Scivias, focusing on the first two of Hildegard’s visions. Topics covered in this session include the fall, and Hildegard’s grappling with the question of God’s goodness in light of His foreknowledge of sin.
Week 3 - Vision 3: The Cosmos
In this session, students will encounter Hildegard’s most famous image: her schema of the cosmos. They will reflect on how Hildegard sees the natural world assigning moral and spiritual lessons.
Week 4 - Vision 4: The Soul and Body
In this session, students will reflect on Hildegard’s image of the body as tabernacle of the soul. Topics covered in this session include the relationship between the soul and body, death, and judgment.
Week 5
Visions 5 and 6: Salvation History
In this session, students will encounter Hildegard’s representation of Judaism and view of salvation history, followed by her angelology and view of humanity’s ultimate destiny as replacement for the lost 10 choir of angels. Topic covered in this session include the incarnation, supercessionism, and the role of angels in mediating grace.
No reading
Questions for reflection
1) What does Hildegard mean to you? What is at stake for you in reading her?
2) Does Hildegard’s Neoplatonism and visionary method change the way you think about faith? How might it inform you as a believer and/or a theologian?
3) What makes for a ‘good interpretation’? Is this affected by the fact that we’re looking at both images and a written text? And how?
Book 1, Vision 1; Vision 2 except no. 11-26(not covered in lecture, but feel free to read it anyway!)
Questions for reflection
1) Hildegard’s first vision portrays God’s power with a range of imagery. What kind of power is evoked by these images?
2) Hildegard’s portrayal of the fall is dramatic. How does it capture the reality of sin? Does it do so effectively? Is there anything it fails to capture?
3) Do you think Hildegard’s answer to the problem of God’s justice in light of the human ability to sin is satisfactory? Why?
Book 1, Vision 3
Questions for reflection
1. What impression does this vision give you of the cosmos? What feelings does it evoke, and how? Does it inspire you to approach the world in any particular way?
2. This vision of the cosmos is not a scientific one. How should we interpret it in light of this fact? How might does this affect the way in which we think about Hildegard’s visions?
3. Hildegard’s allegorical method is illustrated clearly in this vision. What can we learn from this method? How might this affect our approach to the world, or depictions of it?
Book 1, Vision 4; Vision 5 except no. 17-26 (unless you want to!)
Questions for reflection
1. In the section about the earthen vessels, God talks about various types of people, some superior to others by virtue of the ‘seed’ from which they were formed. He also talks about children born with congenital disabilities or disorders as the product of poor-quality seed, produced out of sin, or as a trial sent by God. How ought we to respond to these ideas today?
2. How did you find the story of the soul’s escape from captivity? How does it represent sin and redemption? Has it changed the way you think about these themes? Is there anything it fails to capture?
3. God’s admonishment of humans to obey the divine law seems like a bit of a ‘tough love’ approach to mercy – we have the tools, so we should stop looking for excuses and use them. How does this reflect Hildegard’s broader portrayal of God and His relationship to humanity? And what do you make of it?
5 – Book 1, Vision 5; Vision 6
1. In the previous session, we discussed the worrying theology of disability in Hildegard’s vision. Here, we see another concerning trend: antisemitism. How does this shape the way we should read Hildegard? And how ought we to respond to this more generally?
2. Hildegard’s vision of the Synagogue involves many images with complicated social significance. It is a depiction of a woman, it uses metaphors of whiteness and blackness for grace and sin, it includes representations of royalty and master-servant relationships, it links continuity of tradition to reproduction, and it portrays the relationship between Christianity and Judaism in terms of the family. What do these images communicate today that might not have been so obvious to medieval audiences? And how should we navigate these differences as modern readers?
3. The imagery in Hildegard’s angelic vision is striking and elaborate. What does it communicate, and how? And does it make you think about angels differently?
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Book 1, Vision 5; Vision 6
Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.
