A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

230 susanne ruge
These two primary strands, cosmology and anthropology, run through
parts three and four, and concern human actions in the earthly realm that
directly surrounds them and with which they directly interact. The focal
point is prayer offfered by the human soul to God; the speech register of
these parts changes from an explanatory to a pastoral character.
Part fijive concludes with the image of the waters of the abyss and the
abyss itself. This is linked to considerations about the strength of God as
the foundation of the universe, as well as about the purifying function
of water during baptism.30 God sends his Holy Ghost and his virtues to
strengthen humankind.31 The forgiveness of sins forms the base in conjunction
with penance and baptism. The discussion here turns to God’s
charity and mercy. Christ appears as the one who forgives sins.
When God was made man, he found this in his purview, which pleased him
very much, namely, forgiving the sins of the penitent. . . . Therefore it pleased
his heavenly Father, who had Himself given Him this power, that he might
remit the sins of those who perform penance.32
Thus, at the end of the interpretation in part fijive, the merciful God appears,
the charitable God who grants hope to the penitential. The various theological
topoi culminate in the central theme of the text, that is, penance.
Part six revolves around the goal of salvation history, the Last Judgement.
On this day, the fijinal purifijication from all disturbances caused
by evil will take place. The good order of the cosmos will be reinstated
through this purifijication, and only those who have completely committed
themselves to the devil and are not prepared to perform penance will be
banished into torment and oblivion with Satan. In contrast, the heavenly
joys stand ready to receive the purifijied souls at the end of times.
Through the structure offfered by the initial image, the topics are organized
in a way that profffers a development beginning with salvation history,
through cosmological and anthropological realities, and arriving at
the sacraments of penance and baptism; it also provides a change in the
representation of God from the majestic, powerful God to a God who is
indeed strong and capable, yet prefers to forgive humanity its sins due to
His mercy and charity.
30 Ibid., 5, pp. 227–30.
31 Ibid., 5, p. 230.
32 Ibid., 5.27, p. 232, ll. 426–28, 430–32: “Deus autem homo factus in tabernaculo suo
inuenit quod sibi ualde placuit, uidelicet penitentibus peccata ignoscere. [. . .] unde
superno Patri suo placuit quod ipsi potestatem hanc daret, ut illis qui penitentiam facerent
peccata dimitteret.”