Anselm of Canterbury - The Major Works

by Anselm of Canterbury; Davies, Brian; Evans, Gill

• ISBN13: 9780192825254
• ISBN10: 0192825259
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

'For I do not seek to understand so that I may believe; but I believe so that I may understand. For I believe this also, that unless I believe, I shall not understand.' Does God exist? Can we know anything about God's nature? Have we any reason to think that the Christian religion is true? What is truth, anyway? Do human beings have freedom of choice? Can they have such freedom in a world created by God? These questions, and others, were ones which Anselm of Canterbury (c.1033-1109) took very seriously. He was utterly convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, but he was also determined to try to make sense of his Christian faith. Recognizing that the Christian God is incomprehensible, healso believed that Christianity is not simply something to be swallowed with mouth open and eyes shut. For Anselm, the doctrines of Christianity are an invitation to question, to think, and to learn. Anselm is studied today because his rigour of thought and clarity of writing place him among the greatest of theologians and philosophers. This translation provides readers with their first opportunity to read all of his most important works within the covers of a single volume.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii	(17)
Note on the Text and Translators	xxiv	(2)
Select Bibliography	xxvi	(2)
A Chronology of Anselm's Life	xxviii
THE MAJOR WORKS
Letter to Archbishop Lanfranc	3	(2)
Monologion	5	(77)
Proslogion	82	(23)
Pro Insipiente (On behalf of the Fool), by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers	105	(6)
Reply to Gaunilo	111	(12)
De Grammatico (Dialogue on Literacy and the Literate)	123	(28)
On Truth	151	(24)
On Free Will	175	(18)
On the Fall of the Devil	193	(40)
On the Incarnation of the Word	233	(27)
Why God Became Man	260	(97)
On the Virgin Conception and Original Sin	357	(33)
On the Procession of the Holy Spirit	390	(45)
De Concordia (The Compatibility of God's Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Grace with Human Freedom)	435	(40)
Philosophical Fragments	475	(28)
Index	503