said about God!”
Sophie could see a sudden frown flash across Alberto’s face beneath the brown
cowl.
“He ought to be ashamed of himself!”
Sophie didn’t quite understand what Alberto meant. He went on:
“Unfortunately, Aquinas also adopted Aristotle’s view of women. You may perhaps
recall that Aristotle thought a woman was more or less an incomplete man. He also
thought that children only inherit the father’s characteristics, since a woman was
passive and receptive while the man was active and creative. According to Aquinas,
these views harmonized with the message of the Bible—which, for example, tells us
that woman was made out of Adam’s rib.”
“Nonsense!”
“It’s interesting to note that the eggs of mammals were not discovered until
1827. It was therefore perhaps not so surprising that people thought it was the man
who was the creative and lifegiving force in reproduction. We can moreover note that,
according to Aquinas, it is only as nature-being that woman is inferior to man.
Woman’s soul is equal to man’s soul. In Heaven there is complete equality of the
sexes because all physical gender differences cease to exist.”
“That’s cold comfort. Weren’t there any women philosophers in the Middle
Ages?”
“The life of the church in the Middle Ages was heavily dominated by men. But
that did not mean that there were no women thinkers. One of them was Hildegard of
Bingen...”
Sophie’s eyes widened:
“Does she have anything to do with Hilde?”
“What a question! Hildegard lived as a nun in the Rhine Valley from 1098 to
1179. In spite of being a woman, she worked as preacher, author, physician, botanist,
and naturalist. She is an example of the fact that women were often more practical,
more scientific even, in the Middle Ages.”
“But what about Hilde?”
“It was an ancient Christian and Jewish belief that God was not only a man. He
also had a female side, or ‘mother nature.’ Women, too, are created in God’s likeness.
In Greek, this female side of God is called Sophia. ‘Sophia’ or ‘Sophie’ means
wisdom.”
Sophie shook her head resignedly. Why had nobody ever told her that? And
why had she never asked?
Alberto continued: “Sophia, or God’s mother nature, had a certain significance
both for Jews and in the Greek Orthodox Church throughout the Middle Ages. In the
west she was forgotten. But along comes Hildegard. Sophia appeared to her in a
vision, dressed in a golden tunic adorned with costly jewels ...”
Sophie stood up. Sophia had revealed herself to Hildegard in a vision ...
“Maybe I will appear to Hilde.”
She sat down again. For the third time Alberto laid his hand on her shoulder.
“That is something we must look into. But now it is past eleven o’clock. You
must go home, and we are approaching a new era. I shall summon you to a meeting
on the Renaissance. Hermes will come get you in the garden.”
With that the strange monk rose and began to walk toward the church. Sophie
stayed where she was, thinking about Hildegard and Sophia, Hilde and Sophie. Sud-
denly she jumped up and ran after the monk-robed philosopher, calling:
“Was there also an Alberto in the Middle Ages?”