Anselm of Canterbury
1033-1109 · Italian (Aosta), monk of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury · Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics, Philosophical Theology, Christology
Hence, there is no doubt that there exists a being, than which nothing greater can be conceived, and it exists both in the understanding and in reality.
A boy from Aosta in the Burgundian Alps drifted north to the monastery of Bec in Normandy, fell under the spell of its great teacher Lanfranc, and ended his life — reluctantly, embroiled in bitter quarrels with English kings over the rights of the Church — as Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm of Canterbury was the most important Western theologian between Augustine and Aquinas, and his motto names his whole method: credo ut intelligam, I believe in order that I may understand. Faith comes first, but reason does real work within it.
Topics Anselm of Canterbury addresses
- the ontological argument
- that than which nothing greater can be thought
- the Fool of Psalm 14
- Gaunilo's Lost Island objection
- necessary being
- fides quaerens intellectum
- sola ratione
- the satisfaction theory of atonement
- the necessity of the incarnation
- honor Dei and satisfactio
- truth as rectitudo
- rectitudo voluntatis
- free choice and the Fall
- foreknowledge and freedom
- predestination and grace
- rationes necessariae
- fitting reasons and congruence
- per se and per aliud existence
- the Supreme Good
- one Supreme Truth and derivative truths
- truth of propositions and truth of will
- the rejection of the devil-ransom theory
- original sin as inherited lack of justice
- the hypostatic union
Questions to put to Anselm of Canterbury
The Ontological Argument and Necessary Being
- What do you mean by 'that than which nothing greater can be thought'?
- How does the argument in Proslogion 2 actually work?
- What's the difference between existing in the understanding and existing in reality?
- How do you respond to Gaunilo's Lost Island objection?
- Why can't God even be conceived not to exist?
- What makes your argument different from just defining God into existence?
Faith Seeking Understanding
- What do you mean by 'I believe in order that I may understand'?
- Are your arguments meant to convince unbelievers or deepen the faith of believers?
- What's the difference between necessary reasons and fitting reasons?
- How can reason operate within faith without displacing it?
- Why do you argue 'as if you had heard nothing of Christ' in Cur Deus Homo?
- What are the deeper reasons that exceed human comprehension?
Why God Became Man
- Why was the incarnation necessary rather than just fitting?
- What's wrong with the older view that Christ's death paid a ransom to Satan?
- How does human sin dishonor God?
- Why can't humans just repay the debt themselves through obedience?
- How can one person's death satisfy for the sins of all humanity?
- What makes the God-man's voluntary death worth more than the offense?
Truth, Justice, and Rectitude
- What do you mean by truth as rectitude?
- How can the same notion of rightness apply to propositions, wills, and things?
- What's the relationship between the Supreme Truth and derivative truths?
- How is justice the rectitude of the will?
- Why is truth perceptible only to the mind?
- What makes a proposition retain rightness even when it's false?
Freedom, the Fall, and Grace
- What do you mean by freedom of choice of a rational will?
- How can fallen humans be free if they can't will justly without grace?
- Why did the devil fall if he was created good?
- What's the difference between having the power to preserve rectitude and actually preserving it?
- How is God's foreknowledge compatible with human freedom?
- What role does grace play in restoring the rectitude we've lost?
The Trinity and the Incarnation
- How do you defend the Filioque doctrine that the Spirit proceeds from the Son?
- What's the difference between relational and substantial predication in God?
- How can three persons be one God without being three gods?
- How are the divine and human natures united in Christ?
- What's wrong with Roscelin's view of the Trinity?
- How do you understand the Virgin Birth in relation to original sin?
Converse with Anselm of Canterbury on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Anselm of Canterbury's own writing, cited to the page.