Anselm of Canterbury: philosophy, main ideas, quotes, years of life, biography briefly

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

It's hard to believe now, but a thousand years ago a man appeared on earth who changed people's idea of God. He forced the Christian world to learn anew to live according to the Holy Scriptures, he explained much of what was considered beyond the understanding of the ordinary layman. Anselm of Canterbury, thanks to his education, piety and sincerity, managed to change the point of view of most scholastics.

God's Grace

He was born into a fairly we althy family. They did not live in poverty, they did not know hardships, such as, for example, hunger. But a nine-year-old boy had a dream that the Lord was talking to him and asking him to climb the highest mountain in those places, and then breaking bread with him. It was such a vivid impression that the child, who never needed anything, remembered it for many years.

No sooner had the boy entered the time of youth than his mother suddenly dies, leaving his father so inconsolable that, hardened by grief, he takes out his anger on his son. Unable to bear such treatment, Anselm leaves the house with an old servant,who felt sorry for the boy. They cross the mountains on foot and end up in France. The travelers were so hungry that the guy began to eat the snow. In desperation, his companion looks into the knapsack, expecting to see emptiness there, but instead finds a slice of white bread. Such a clear manifestation of God's mercy once again proves to the young man that he should devote himself to the church.

Monastery of the Virgin Mary

Three years after the beginning of their joint journey, our wanderers end up in a monastery, which is under the patronage of the famous priest and scientist Lanfranc. There is also a school here that is able to give the best education in Europe to anyone who is ready to learn and who asks for it. Naturally, Anselm happily bites into the granite of science, and soon becomes the best student. Ten years later, he decides to take the veil as a monk and live a righteous life. As a standard, he took the lives of the saints, who spent their days in prayers for humanity, constantly fasted and taught others to live according to the law of God.

Priest

Lanfranc is transferred to another monastery, and Anselm of Canterbury becomes the new priest. During this period, his ideas are formed, which are then displayed in books on theology. Philosophical questions regarding the cause of the Savior's sacrifice, the instrument of knowledge of the world, occupied his thoughts. The interpretation of these controversial, both from the point of view of philosophy and from the point of view of theology, maxims brings the preacher of Canterburypublic recognition.

Knowledge: faith or higher intelligence?

According to the surviving documents, Anselm of Canterbury, whose ideas were so actively and enthusiastically accepted by the church, believed that for knowledge it is necessary to believe, because if the world was born from the idea of someone great, then only faith can help to understand his plan. This statement, somewhat controversial at first glance, immediately gained supporters who were able to convince everyone else of its truth. In addition, from this maxim it was possible to deduce another one, that the concept of God is born simultaneously with a person and already exists in him - therefore, God exists too.

Archbishop of Canterbury

The successful campaign of William the Conqueror to capture Britain brought to the Celtic land and Christianity, backed by fire and sword. Priest Lanfranc came with him to carry the light of the true faith. Anselm often visited his teacher and was liked by the local population. So when Lanfranc's service ended due to his untimely death, the people demanded that he be made the next bishop. So he became Anselm of Canterbury.

The years of life in Foggy Albion were not always easy. After William the Conqueror, a new king came who did not want to listen to sermons from anyone and immediately entered into a confrontation with the applicant for the position of bishop. For four long years their confrontation went on, and now, being already on his deathbed,Wilhelm gives his consent to the appointment of Anselm. Soon after this decision was made, the illness that had tormented the sovereign for a long time receded, and death was postponed for an indefinite time.

Introduction

A modest man by nature, Anselm of Canterbury, whose philosophy did not allow him to lead other people, for a long time refused the dignity. Moreover, he was disgusted with all the honors associated with this event. The love of pomposity was not peculiar to him. Therefore, he did not accept the bishop's staff from the hands of the king, de facto not recognizing the spiritual position appointed by the worldly ruler.

He also rebelled against simony, that is, the sale of church positions, which significantly replenished the treasury of the church. He did not stay at his post for long, exactly as long as he was waiting for the appointment - four years. After this time, unable to withstand the pressure from the king, he went into exile, voluntarily, realizing what he was doing and what he was refusing. Anselm of Canterbury, whose biography is full of unexpected twists of fate, returned to England only ten years later. During this time, he managed to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of many clergymen in Europe, and the struggle for investiture, i.e. appointments to church positions have been deployed everywhere.

Recent years

Eventually, both sides came to a settlement agreement, which stated that just as bishops would respect temporal authority, so would kingswill give the privilege of conferring spiritual symbols on the Church.

Anselm of Canterbury, whose main ideas were simple, understandable and accessible to any person, died in 1109 in England, and three centuries later he was canonized and canonized.

The presence of God in every person

This church philosopher was haunted by the idea of how easy it is to prove the existence of God. Yes, so that everything is logical and understandable. This thought haunted the future bishop. Anselm of Canterbury briefly defined God as something higher than which nothing can be conceived. This statement will be clear even to a person who is completely unfamiliar with religious teachings, which means that the understanding of God is present in each of us from birth. Therefore, God exists, since it is logically impossible to think that he does not exist. This hypothesis was too controversial and radical for that time, and not everyone was ready to accept it. Kant would later refute it in his Critique of Pure Reason.

Evidence for the existence of God

1. Good and Good exist both in the context of God's actions and independently of him in various spheres of being, as Anselm of Canterbury argued. His main ideas boiled down to reflections on the many-sided essence of God. In this case, it is the essence of Good.
2. Everything has its reason. And what is our world if not the sum of things? The world is also in some way a thing, and must also have a cause. So, the power that can create such an amazing “thing” is God.
3. Each subject has its own degreeexcellence that can be compared with others. And if there is a comparative perfection, then there is also an incomparable one. That will be God.
4. This idea repeats the mental theory of the existence of God. Since even in the clouded brain of a mentally ill person there is an idea of a being above which nothing can be conceived, then this is God.

These four proofs were brought out by Anselm of Canterbury (the biography was briefly presented in this article). Even in France, similar ideas began to come to him. They crystallized, found reasonable and logical explanations, and lined up in a coherent formula for the existence of God.

You can read more about this evidence in a treatise called "Proslojium", which is completely devoted to ideas about the peculiarities of human thinking, the influence of faith on this process and the intervention of God.

A priori and a posteriori statements

All proofs of the existence of God Anselm of Canterbury divides into those based on experience and those that are accepted regardless of its existence. He ranked as a posteriori those that were known in the time of Plato and were actively used by the ministers of the church to guide their flock on the true path. All such statements come down to one thing - observing nature and the development of life in it, it is impossible to deny the idea that all this is rewarded by God and has a higher purpose. Therefore, the Creator exists.

Anselm of Canterbury, whose philosophy could not be satisfied with only a mediated understanding of God, found a priori evidence of hisexistence. Everything turned out to be much simpler if we take it on faith that God contains only the positive qualities observed in nature. Since existence is also a positive characteristic, it exists. We think of God as perfect, and therefore as existing. Thus, the proof of the existence of God is derived from the very concept of God.

It is thanks to these evidence that Anselm of Canterbury entered the history of philosophy and theology. Philosophy, the main ideas of which were focused on finding evidence for the existence of God, touched on many more aspects of human existence. In his writings, he helped to understand the intricacies and ornateness of church teaching.

Anselm of Canterbury was one of the most famous saints of his time. He has come a long way from a boy on whom God's grace descended to a bishop who has power over the minds of his flock, but does not abuse it. This is how we see now how Anselm of Canterbury lived and worked. Quotations from his treatises are still used by the ministers of the church, despite the fact that philosophers have refuted these proofs of the existence of God.