Anselm, the Ontological Argument, Faith and Reason

SI Filings

“Anselm believed that the fact that humans are the kind of creatures that even raise the question of deity suggests there is something about us and the world that makes the idea of God reasonable in the first place.” - Breakpoint

Discussion

Theology Thursday – Anselm on the Atonement

TylerR

Anselm was a brilliant guy. A genius. He published his book Why God Became Man in 1097, so you could say it’s a bit of an antique. Anselm’s book is really about why Christ had to take on a human nature and be conceived of and born to a virgin. But, along the way, he tackled the reason for Christ’s death and thus popularized the “satisfaction theory” of atonement, which envisioned God as an overlord of sorts who was owed “satisfaction” or payment by his subjects for crimes committed, in order to set things right.

Discussion

Theology Thursday – Anselm on the Incarnation

TylerR

Anselm published the final version of Why God Became Man in 1094. It’s a stunning achievement, structured around a fictional dialogue between himself and a curious student, named Boso. It’s popular among many Christians to assume the medieval period was a “dark age” for the church; a time of intellectual bankruptcy and stagnation. Anselm’s work proves that theory wrong.

Discussion