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Work #254 · Late (the culmination of her visionary trilogy)

Liber Divinorum Operum

Hildegard of Bingen
1163-73 (composed in the last decade of Hildegard's life, after the Scivias and the Liber Vitae Meritorum) · Medieval Latin
Visionary cosmological-theological treatise in three parts, with ten visions · Medieval German Christian mysticism / cosmological-theological synthesis

The "Cosmic Man" — Hildegard's late cosmological-theological synthesis integrating creation, anthropology, and divine providence

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Liber Divinorum Operum (Late (the culmination of her visionary trilogy))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Liber Divinorum Operum

Cyclical-cosmic time as the medium of creation's unfolding; salvation-history time as the directional framework.

Space

Liber Divinorum Operum

The Aristotelian-Ptolemaic cosmos as the spatial setting; the human-cosmic integration as the central spatial image.

Matter

Liber Divinorum Operum

Embodied creation as the manifestation of divine creative work — material reality permeated by viriditas.

Observer

Liber Divinorum Operum

The cosmic-human observer at the centre of the visions; Hildegard as the receiving visionary. Personal-providential God as framework.

Energy

Liber Divinorum Operum

Viriditas as the dynamic principle running through all creation; divine creative power as the source.

Information

Liber Divinorum Operum

The cosmic-theological information preserved through visionary illumination and theological interpretation.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Liber Divinorum Operum

The Liber Divinorum Operum has been less widely translated and read than Scivias, partly because of its more demanding cosmological framework. The relation between Hildegard's theological-visionary work and her natural-philosophical work (Physica, Causae et Curae) has been a continuing scholarly question — modern Hildegard scholarship has integrated them more fully. The Liber's engagement with twelfth-century cosmological speculation (the school of Chartres) has been increasingly recognised.