Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109)

Anselm of Canterbury 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, he also 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.

This is not an intensive review, but rather my immediate thoughts right after finishing up this book.

This was a good read! As a theology nerd who absolutely loved St. Athanasius's [b:On the Incarnation|673655|On the Incarnation|Athanasius of Alexandria|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1269974899l/673655._SX50_.jpg|659669], it was super exciting to hear that there was another theological treatise covering the Incarnation and why God the Son had to take on show more a human nature in order to ensure humanity's salvation. Whereas Athanasius deals more with the death and resurrection of Jesus serving as the cure to the mankind's corruption brought about by the Fall, here Anselm of Canterbury (writing 700ish years later) deals more with the death and resurrection of Jesus serving as the payment of the debt that mankind owes to God and mankind getting to participate in the rewards Christ receives for His perfect obedience.

The "satisfaction theory of atonement", as I have heard it being called, is what Anselm argues for with excellent logical arguments. This is the idea that Christ’s death was necessary to satisfy the debt humanity owed to God’s justice due to their transgression in Eden. An interesting aspect of this text is that Anselm formats it as a dialogue between himself and Boso, a fellow Christian who takes on the role of a questioning unbeliever. Question after question is asked, and really insightful and rational answers are given every time. Anselm is chiefly concerned with God's justice and mercy, and how both can be preserved in the grand dilemma of salvation: humanity, by God's justice, deserves punishment and wrath; God, in His mercy, wants to forgive them and redeem them. Anselm brings in God's honor, and how it cannot be transgressed against, so in order that this remains true His original design cannot be violated, and so humanity must be redeemed. But only God could pay such a debt. But only man must pay it! Thus, it cannot be just anyone that makes this satisfaction: the God-man is the only One who can. This is distinct from Athanasius's approach, as previously noted—Athanasius sees Jesus more as the re-creator of humanity, restoring humanity to being the image of God as they were made to be. His language is more existential and medicinal than Anselm's forensic language. Regardless, these two approaches are in no way exclusive: both are true, and mind-bogglingly beautiful.

A quote that stuck with me that I will be thinking about for a while came towards the end, where Anselm says, “For surely in vain will men imitate Him, if they be not also partakers of his reward” (82). It reminded me of the crux of the entire matter: we cannot be saved by Christ unless we are united to Him. It reminded me of John 15: we can try and imitate Jesus day and night, but unless we are actually truly genuinely connected to Him and abiding in Him it will profit us nothing. Unless we partake of His reward we have no life in us, because His reward is life, and life to the fullest.

The author's humility was something that stood out to me. Anselm realizes how unfit and unworthy he is to be trying to explain these things (which reminded me profoundly of Paul's "And who is adequate for these things?" in 2 Cor. 2:16b), and so he asks that God would help him in the endeavor. He also ends the book praising God for being the source of all knowledge and truth and enlightenment, explicitly saying not to attribute any of the brilliance or intelligence to him but to the One from Whom all blessings flow. The heart of Christ shines through Anselm's writing, which is super sweet to read.

Something that I felt detracted from the experience of reading this book was the lengthy and convoluted way in which some of its sentences can sometimes be written. This book was written 1000 years ago, and you can tell. Portions of it can be hard to read, and I found myself skipping some paragraphs that I could just genuinely not understand or wrap my head around. Perhaps that speaks more to my deficiency as a reader than to the text itself, but I merely mention it as something that did make the experience of reading this less enjoyable.

The only other negative that immediately comes to mind is the angel stuff, which I think has been mentioned a little in other reviews. Anselm leans heavily for a few pages (and references throughout) this idea of a "perfect number" of good rational beings that was initially fulfilled by angels but then faced lack when Satan and his angels fell. Anselm then argues that God replenishes this number out of redeemed humanity, and that the number of redeemed people cannot be less than that of the angels that fell (he goes on to debate a little whether the number would be exactly equal or greater). This is... a weird concept that I have never heard of before and that I genuinely had to look up and research because it was so out of left field. It's interesting, don't get me wrong, but it is simply not biblical, instead being rooted in philosophical reasoning or something like that. Additionally, I feel like Anselm espouses a view that leads to him esteeming angels to a dangerous level, portraying them as "holy beings" that are superior to humanity. While this is true in the present, the reality that Scripture communicates in Hebrews 1 and 2 is that angels will be subject to our dominion in the New Creation, and that angels are meant to be ministers of the redeemed. Paul himself states we will judge the angels. So the plan of salvation is not to redeem humanity by making them like unfallen angels (as one could very easily misunderstand Anselm to be saying), but rather to make them co-heirs with the Son of dominion over all things, including angels. That was the only thing that I found to be theologically questionable in this book, at least the only thing that stood out to me.

This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it'd be. Alas, this is indeed (as it should be) a book that will leave you with many thoughts, most (if not all) about the majesty, goodness, and mercy of God. If you’re drawn to the forensic aspect of salvation and how justice and mercy meet in Christ, I recommend this as a very valuable read. show less

One of the densest but most insightful and admirable musings into the nature of God. Although often overshadowed by the weight of the ontological argument (which I admit, drew me to it in the first place), the earnestness of Anselm's search for God and the depth of his thinking stands foremost as the most memorable aspect of this "little book." I would highly recommend this reading to any who are interested in exploring with Anselm, deep philosophical and theological subjects in a concise show more and manageable short read. I warn however, that many passages, especially on the ontological argument (mainly chapters 2-3), may require rereading. I personally had to go back almost 10+ times to fully grasp his deep insight. Regardless of the philosophical flaws this particular rendition may have, it is still a formidable and important understanding to have! show less

Throughout the Middle Ages priests and theologians pondered the great questions about the Christian faith and this is a compilation one of the major thinkers of the time. The Major Works of Anselm of Canterbury brings together all of the important works—and some fragments of miscellaneous writing—of this Doctor of the Church on numerous issues to make sense of his faith.

Containing 11 works, this volume explores such questions as relating to the Christian faith. However except for show more Anselm’s first major work, “Monologian” in which he sets out to prove God exists through reason than faith, almost everything in this book is either bordering on heretical or barely comprehensible at best. Such works as “De Grammatico”, “The Truth, and “Free Will” quickly make no sense in their dialogue form while “On the Fall of the Devil” appears to indicate that God created evil which is frankly should have resulted in a one-way ticket bonfire for Anselm. Anselm’s attempt to better articulate his thoughts of the “Monologian” in the “Proslogion” were a disaster of incomprehensibility. The three works “On the Incarnation of the Word”, “Why God Became Man”, and “On the Virgin Conception and Original Sin” were insightful in a few spots though exposed the fallacy of original sin even though Anselm might have thought he had validate it. The two other major pieces were so disappointing that it is best not to mention them by name.

After reading St. Augustine’s City of God, I hoped for a clear understanding of medieval theological thought in this book as well. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement, in fact even though “Monologian” was tougher than I expected I wasn’t discouraged but as I continued reading it became harder to read. On top of that, the rise of so many unbiblical theological statements that Anselm “proves” through reason then “backs up” through scripture was getting hard to take. In fact, the worst part of “Monologian” was Anselm attempting to prove the immortality of the soul and failing completely. The only other positive thing I can say, except for my general liking of “Monologian”, is that any notes of the text were put in the footers and not in the back of the book like other Oxford World’s Classics editions I read have done.

The Major Works contains serious theological and philosophical works by Anselm of Canterbury that the honest reader will find barely comprehensible and at times almost heretical. Do not waste your time with this book unless you are a very serious scholar. show less