Like many theologians of the Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen with her views about God, the creation and especially the people, can also be considered a philosopher. In philosophical and theological research, she is, like Otto of Freising, Anselm of Havelberg, Gerhoh of Reichersberg or Rupert of Deutz, classified as the „historical symbolism“ or the „German symbolism“, respectively. The historical-allegorical method of interpreting the Holy Scripture combines historical processes with theological thinking. Historical events were seen as part of the history of salvation. A gaining of knowledge was attempted concerning total reality and to understand the meaning with regard to the history of salvation. With this knowledge it was also possible to understand the Bible as a historical book and to relate it to the then present time.
Abelard took a completely different standpoint and developed a new methodology in his scripture Sic et non. He looked for contradictions in the works of the Church Fathers and the Bible and ignored the existing dogmatisms in order to demonstrate that only the interpretation could bring the resolution of conflicts within the texts. For him, the key to understanding was asking questions. With that, he was one of the most important pioneers of the scholastic method shaped by the scriptures of Aristotle. As a consequence, dialectics gained an increasing importance within Liberal Arts and with it the rationality (ratio) as a criteria for understanding. The front submissive to authority, which had characterized theology since the era of Augustine, slowly started to crumble. Theological questions were, due to theological considerations such as formulating and disproving or affirming hypotheses, answered by means of logical arguments. The omnipotence of God, however, should not be put into question by their approach, but strengthened. It was the time of intellectual awakening in Europe. This method had still determined opponents, such as Bernard of Clairvaux or Rupert of Deutz, and also Hildegard of Bingen disapproved of these views decisively:

„For you are not permitted to investigate the secrets of God more than the divine majesty wishes to reveal, because of His love for believers.“

That the 12th century was also a time of a surge in translation, was a prerequisite for the development of scholasticism and new ways of thinking: Medical, natural history and philosophical works of ancient scholars were translated from Greek and Arabic. This is how scriptures of Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes or Galen that were not known in the occident before were brought to public attention again.