Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109).
Table of Contents
Ideas
– God exists, for there is goodness in the world, and goodness an be good only through a supreme good that is good through itself, and only God is good through himself.
– God exists, for since whatever exists does so only through something, there must be a supremely great being that exists though itself and through which all other things exist.
– God exists, for there are degrees of worth in the world, and degrees of worth are understandable only by reference to a being of supreme worth, the highest of all existing beings.
– God necessarily exists, for he is the being than whom none greater can be though, and it is greater for such a being to exist than not to exist than not to exist, and to exist necessarily.
– God freely became a human being because to secure man’s happiness (for which man was created) man had to be punished for his sin and no one but God could make such satisfaction: God became man in order to make the offering necessary for redemption.
Biography
Anselm was an Italian born, Benedictine English philosophical theologian. He is best known for his ontological argument for the existence of God, and the satisfaction theory of the Atonement.
His Monologion and Proslogion both deal extensively with his ontological proofs for God’s existence, and the hierarchical order of the universe.
Major Works of Saint Anselm of Canterbury
– Monologian
– Proslogion
– Cur Deus Homo
- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
- Saint Bonaventure
- Saint John of the Cross
- Saint Teresa of Avila
- Saint Augustine
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