Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias (Classics of Western Spirituality)
by Mother Columba Hart, Jane Bishop, Barbara Newman
List Price:
Our Price: $16.76
You Save: $15.19 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.64 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Barbara Newman, Jane Bishop, Mother Columba HartEdition: Paperback
Audio: Latin (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1990-08
ISBN: 0809131307
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Paulist Press
Book Reviews of Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias (Classics of Western Spirituality)
Book Review: Outstanding female prophet
Summary: 5 Stars
Hildegard was one of the most famoust mystics of the medieval period. A rarity amoung women of that time, she conversed with learned theologians and even the pope, was given considerable autonomy to learn and teach, and was a very gifted writer, poet, theologian, mystic, and scientist.
Hildegard's visions, which are included in this collection, form a larger set of works of hers which include poems, songs and music, and various encyclopedias. Hildegard was a very learned woman for her time.
Her visions are very complex and involve many elements and themes. Some deal with classic theological motifs from the medieval period, such as the Church, Christ, heaven and hell, the last judgement and the fall. Others deal with the relationship between man (the microcosm) and the universe, while others deal with the mysteries of the Triune God and God's prescence in nature.
Most striking in Hildegard's visions is the intimate connection between man, God, and the creation. Mathew Fox rightly said Hildegard is a creation mystic; for her, the divine spirit fills and energises the universe, and the Earth itself is seen in terms as our mother and as sacred. Hurting creation is in fact a way we hurt ourselves, an ecological ethic which can certainly say a lot to us in this time, where our greedy carelessness towards the world and its resources threatens to imperil our very survival as a species. Hildegard also quite rightly and perceptively understands the goodness of creation in terms of the goodness of God, whose abundance is given to us freely out of love. Our sin in Hildegard's system very much boils down to our selfish tendency to only see ourselves and our wants, rather than our relationship with the creation and the creator. In this way, Hildegard speaks to us today as the prophet, who warns us of the spiritual and material destruction and doom that will come to us if we continue to live in our wicked ways; demythologized and interpreted in our context, this can be read as a prophecy to our own destruction if we do not turn from our sinful selfishness which manifests itself in the reckless way we hurt and exploit other people and the environment merely to sate our own desire.
Hildegard's work is filled with beauty and colour and is greatly enjoyable also as fine art, and indeed, Hildegard is as much a great artist as she is a prophet and mystic.
This collection of her works is quite good and takes us through the main cycles of prophetic visions.
Summary of Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias (Classics of Western Spirituality)
Hildegard of Bingen, twelfth-century German nun, mystic, prophet and political moralist, was widely consulted as an oracle and wrote prolifically on doctrinal matters, as well as on secular matters like medicine, She publicly preached monastic reform, founded two nunneries, and was embroiled in the politics surrounding popes and anti-popes.Scivias, her major religious work, consists of twenty-six visions, which are first set down literally as she saw them, and are then explained exegetically. A few of the topic covered in the visions are the charity of Christ, the nature of the universe, the kingdom of God, the fall of man, sanctification, and the end of the world. Special emphasis is given to the sacraments of marriage and the Eucharist, in response to the Cathar heresy. As a group the visions form a theological summa of Christian doctrine. At the end of the Scivias are hymns of praise and a short play, probably an early draft of Ordo virtutum, the first known morality play. Hildegard is remarkable for being able to unite " vision with doctrine, religion with science, charismatic jubilation with prophetic indignation, and longing for social order with quest for social justice." This volume elucidates the life of medieval women, and is a striking example of a special form of Christian spirituality.
General Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books I want to buy my local library
The Writings of St. Paul, Second Edition (Norton Critical Edition)by St. Paul
W. W. Norton; Published: 2006-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.17
Price in other shops:
Hildegard of Bingen: Scivias (Classics of Western Spirituality)by Mother Columba Hart, Jane Bishop, Barbara Newman
Paulist Press; Published: 1990-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.77
Price in other shops:
Selected Writings (Hildegard of Bingen) (Penguin Classics)by Hildegard of Bingen
Penguin Classics; Published: 2001-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Keats's Poetry and Prose: (Norton Critical Editions)by John Keats
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 2008-08-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.39
Yeats's Poetry, Drama, and Prose (Norton Critical Editions)by William Butler Yeats
W. W. Norton; Published: 2000-03-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.95
Price in other shops:
Selected Writings (Oxford World's Classics)by William Hazlitt
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1999-03-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.04
Price in other shops:
The Descent of Man: The Concise Editionby Charles Darwin
Plume; Published: 2007-11-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
Occasional, Critical, and Political Writing (Oxford World's Classics)by James Joyce
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops:
The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics)by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.21
Price in other shops:
Dashing Diamond Dick and Other Classic Dime Novels (Penguin Classics)Penguin Classics; Published: 2007-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Hadewijch: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality)by Mother Columba Hart
Paulist Press; Published: 1980-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops:
Francis and Clare: The Complete Works (The Classics of Western Spirituality)by Regis J. Armstrong, Ignatius C. Brady
Paulist Press; Published: 1986-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.25
Price in other shops:
A Feather on the Breath of GodRelease date: 1993-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $16.06
Price in other shops:
Hildegard of Bingen's Medicine (Folk Wisdom Series)by Dr. Wighard Strehlow, Gottfried Hertzka M.D.
Bear & Company; Published: 1987-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops:
Julian of Norwich: Showings (Classics of Western Spirituality)by Edmund Colledge, James Walsh, Jean Leclercq
Paulist Press; Published: 1977-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.61
Price in other shops:
Hildegard's Healing Plants: From Her Medieval Classic Physicaby Hildegard Von Bingen
Beacon Press; Published: 2002-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.65
Price in other shops:
Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingenby Hildegard Of Bingen
Shambhala; Published: 1996-07-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.01
Price in other shops:
Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of EcstasyRelease date: 1994-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingenby Matthew Fox
Bear & Company; Published: 2003-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Hildegard von Bingen's Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and HealingHealing Arts Press; Published: 1998-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.44
Price in other shops: