The Gift of Prophecy

Prophetic Voices? Spiritual Manifestations in the Middle Ages

Around the year 1175 a Benedictine monk from Gembloux, a Flemish city in modern-day Belgium, wrote a letter to his friend about an abbess who had received visions. His testimony sheds light on the Christian perception, in the Middle Ages, of the gift of prophecy. Guibert of Gembloux was so impressed about the reports of her experiences and teachings that he traveled approximately 180 miles to Bingen, modern Germany, in order to meet Hildegard. He compared her to the Hebrew prophets Miriam, Deborah, and Judith. “Surely she had received ‘rare gifts, till now practically unheard of throughout all ages.’ ” ⁴¹ For Guibert, since the virgin Mary no women had received so great a gift from God. In his perception God had not sent a prophet for more than 1,000 years. This reflects the previously explained tendency. However, his testimony also demonstrates that certain Christians were open to the possibility of the manifestation of prophecy in their time. GOP 218.1

Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098-1179) was not the only one at the time who claimed to have received revelations from God and was regarded as a prophet by certain contemporaries. Elisabeth, an abbess from Schönau, 63 miles from Bingen, had similar experiences. ⁴² Barbara Newman, a specialist on the life of Hildegard, quotes a testimony even earlier than the one given by Guibert: GOP 218.2

In 1158 the author of the Annales Palidenses found it natural to link the two visionary nuns in a single notice: “In these days also God displayed the signs of his power in the frail sex, that is, in his two handmaidens Hildegard on the Rupertsberg near Bingen and Elisabeth in Schönau, whom he filled with the spirit of prophecy and to whom, through the Gospel, he revealed many kinds of visions which are extant in writing.” ⁴³ GOP 218.3

However, this recognition was not easily acquired. In a letter written by Elisabeth to Hildegard, it is told that her abbot at first doubted the visions, commanding her to ask the supposed divine angel who talked with her if he was from God. He feared that Elisabeth was actually talking with a demon. She continues her account that in the next appearance, the angel turned his face away from her in anger, commanding the abbot to repent from his doubt. Apparently he did repent, for he sought divine guidance from this visionary woman, asking Elisabeth to pray in his behalf when he was planning a preaching tour. ⁴⁴ GOP 218.4

Hildegard also encountered struggles with her male superiors. Her abbot once confronted her about the body of a lapsi that was buried in the cemetery of the monastery. He wanted to take the corpse out because he was an apostate who had not confessed his sins to him. She defied her superior, saying that the man had confessed his sins before his death, putting herself in an authoritative role like a bishop. In another instance she requested her abbot Kuno to move the nuns to another place and have a monastery of their own, but he disallowed it. She then bypassed his authority, seeking superior permission from the archbishop of Mainz, which she received. In a male-dominated world, it was not easy to claim to be a divine messenger. Despite the difficulties they faced, both stories “offer a classic case of the triumph of charismatic over institutional authority.” ⁴⁵ As Newman concludes, this attitude of defiance was a rare case of audacity in a world dominated by a male ecclesiastical hierarchy. ⁴⁶ GOP 219.1

Hildegard’s conviction of her call led her even further, to denounce hierarchical shortcomings. Similar to what Huss and Luther would later do, in her preaching tours she accused the priesthood of corruption because of simony, the habit of buying and selling church offices. ⁴⁷ She not only preached and admonished the church’s leadership of their sins, but was also sought for guidance. Many considered her a divine voice that should be heard. Hildegard at first did not write about her spiritual experiences (visions). Even when she did, in response to Guibert’s inquiry about them, she was careful to note that hers were not an ecstatic rapture, but a special grace of divine perception. ⁴⁸ Her writings did not emphasize the supernatural encounters she claimed to have had with God, but were an exposition of biblical passages. Newman notices that in her writings she only quotes from the Scriptures and the voice of God she heard, for book learning (human opinion) was trivial compared to the light she had received. ⁴⁹ GOP 219.2

She had seen that Light since her childhood. ⁵⁰ She was later placed in a convent where she became an abbess in 1136, about 39 years of age. There she continued to see this divine light. She initially could not understand nor explain the gift of her visions to others. She did not share their content until 1141, when presumably God told her to write them down. She was hesitant, became ill, but later succumbed to the voice. ⁵¹ GOP 220.1

But I, though I saw and heard these things, refused to write for a long time through doubt and bad opinion and the diversity of human words, not with stubbornness but in the exercise of humility, until, laid low by the scourge of God, I fell upon a bed of sickness; then, compelled at last by many illnesses, and by the witness of a certain noble maiden of good conduct [the nun Richardis von Stade] and of that man whom I had secretly sought and found, as mentioned above [Volmar], I set my hand to the writing. While I was doing it, I sensed, as I mentioned before, the deep profundity of scriptural exposition; and, raising myself from illness by the strength I received, I brought this work to a close—though just barely—in ten years. . . . And I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, “Cry out therefore, and write thus!” ⁵² GOP 220.2

As a result of her encounters with God she wrote Scivias (Know [the way of God]), Liber Vitae Meritorum (book of the merits/rewards of life) and Divinorum Operum (book of divine works). These books reveal the work of God in the salvation of man where she expounds on Creation, the Fall, and the sacraments of the church. In addition, she wrote about botany and medicine, ⁵³ poetry, and composed music for liturgical purposes. In her book about the rewards of life she reflects on the immorality of her age influenced by the devil and frames her admonition to live a pure life based on the biblical prescriptions of holiness. She also wrote a play with this same moral emphasis, the Ordo Virtutum (about the order of virtues). GOP 220.3

The emphasis of her work is the Light of God. She even describes her experience as the “reflection of the living Light.” Relying primarily on the Genesis account of Creation and its reuse by John 1, she mirrors Augustine’s commentary on Genesis and his metaphorical use of the lights of heaven illuminating the planet to explain the truth from God that bring life to the human soul. ⁵⁴ Using this biblical language of divine light and darkness she considered herself a witness of this greater light. God is also described as having the attributes of a woman who gives life. Using the biblical portrayal of God with feminine terms such as Wisdom (sapientia) and Love (caritas), she emphasized the compassionate and creative action of the divine Light. GOP 220.4

Based on her writings and contemporary descriptions of her work, she sometimes foretold the future, constantly proclaimed Jesus as God’s incarnate Son, lived a life of purity, denouncing the corruption of the clergy (fruits) in conformity to biblical parameters. Based on these criteria, she could be considered a prophet. However, caution should be exercised in agreeing with all she presumably wrote, as some of her teachings could be considered at odds with scriptural teachings. The test of Isaiah 8:20, conformity to previous revelation, is pertinent here. Although she professed basic Christian doctrines, denounced corruptions in the clergy, as a woman of her age she was also in favor of the mystical power of the Eucharist and the divine authority of the church. GOP 221.1

A notice of caution is necessary before we dismiss her case as a valid divine messenger. Biblical examples show that not all men and women of God were perfect. Hebrews 11 includes murderers (Moses and David), those disobedient to God’s call (Moses and Samson), and other unrighteous individuals. We should also consider how in The Great Controversy Ellen G. White upholds Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, and Miller as divine emissaries, proclaimers of truth bringing divine light to a generation in darkness. Nonetheless, not all their actions and writings are praiseworthy or in conformity to divine precepts. Hildegard may well have been used by God to initiate certain reforms in the church. GOP 221.2

Another case may illustrate this point. In an age in which God was considered by many to be a judgmental tyrant, the image of a compassionate God was truly divine light. Julian of Norwich (c. 1342-14??), similar to Hildegard of Bingen, also wrote a theology of optimism and compassion. This English anchorite, a hermit living in a fixed cloister, taught that God was love and not wrath. Balancing the medieval stress on law, duty, priestly mediation, and suffering, which led Martin Luther to despair, she proclaimed that sufferings are not necessarily a divine punishment and that Christians should seek God individually for salvation. GOP 221.3

I understood this revelation to teach our souls to cling fast to the goodness of God. At the same time I remember all the different ways we are accustomed to pray and how busy we become when we lose sight of how God loves us. For I was persuaded at this time that what pleases God, what delights him most, is when we pray simply trusting in his goodness, holding on to him, relying upon his grace, with true understanding, rather than if we made all the means that heart can think. Even when we summon all such skills, we are bound to fall short: all we need do is trust in God’s own goodness, for this will never fail us. ⁵⁵ GOP 221.4

For Julian, sinners must learn to depend on God, which leads to salvation. She also portrayed God with feminine traits to emphasize His compassionate and loving character. However, portraying the gift of prophecy is not so easy. The admonition of Christ reminds us that not all who call upon the name of the Lord are truly His. Because truth can be mixed with error, we should not readily approve Julian as a prophet and her visions as divine. In contrast to Hildegard, it is easier from the Scriptures to show the shortcomings of her theology. She repeatedly refers to visionary encounters with the virgin Mary and her role in the loving relationship between Jesus and humanity (intermediary) ⁵⁶ and seems to understand sin as a human construct (not a state but a condition of present pain/suffering), ⁵⁷ which has caused many to view her as a universalist. GOP 222.1