Did a 12th Century Abbess Visualize the 21st Century?

An interpretation of St. Hildegard of Bingen's vision of the end times.
By: R. J. Turner
 
SAN FRANCISCO - Jan. 15, 2016 - PRLog -- A new book proposing a contemporary interpretation of an early mystical writing by the German abbess, St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), whom Benedict XVI named a Doctor of the Church, not only offers an explanation of our recent past, but a glimpse of our near future. The Five Beasts of St. Hildegard: Prophetic Symbols of Modern Society, by Reid J. Turner, argues compellingly that Hildegard's famous vision of the five beasts makes explicit references to today's Western societies.

In Scivias: Book III Vision 11, a vision of the end times, Hildegard describes five symbolic beasts which represent brief and successive historical periods of time that immediately precede the Antichrist. She adds that each era is identified by a unique social evil intended to produce a spiritual crisis with the aim of inflicting damage on the Roman Catholic Church in preparation for the final battle that follows. Turner had a hunch that we are living through one of these periods: “After reading about a dozen histories on the 20th century, it was an easy task to divide up the century into four separate historical eras and define the unique character of each. The result was unnerving; Hildegard's detailed descriptions of the eras represented by the first four beasts matched the 20th century with disturbing accuracy.”

Hildegard described the first era, the “Fiery-Red Dog”, as a period of social injustice (the rise of communism, 1870-1914); the second, the Yellow Lion, a period of “unjust wars” (WWI-WWII,1914-1945); the third, the Pale Horse, was a time of “licentiousness” and hedonism (the ”sexual revolution”, 1945-1991), and the fourth, the “Black Pig”, was described as a period in which society's leaders would institute laws that would “infringe the divine law” (1991-present). The final period, the Grey Wolf, yet to come, is described as a time of social upheaval and persecution of Christians.

Mr. Turner received a B.A. in Biblical Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN and pursued graduate studies at Bethel Theological Seminary and The University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. He blogs at https://thefivebeasts.wordpress.com/

The Five Beasts of St. Hildegard: Prophetic Symbols of Modern Society is available on Amazon.com.

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