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

Now it’s hard to believe, but a thousand years ago a man appeared on earth who changed the way people think about God. He forced the Christian world to re-learn to live the Holy Scriptures, explained much of what was considered above the understanding of the ordinary layman. Anselm of Canterbury, thanks to his education, piety and sincerity, was able to change the point of view of most scholastics.

God's mercy

Anselm of Canterbury
He was born into a rather wealthy family. They did not live in poverty, did not know deprivations, such as, for example, hunger. But the nine-year-old boy had a dream that the Lord was talking to him and asked him to climb the highest mountain in those places, and then he broke bread with him. It was such a vivid impression that a child who never needed anything remembered him for many years.

Before the boy entered the time of his youth, his mother died suddenly, leaving his father so inconsolable that hardened by grief, he takes out his anger on his son. Unable to withstand such treatment, Anselm leaves home 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 snow. In desperation, his fellow traveler peers into the bag, expecting to see the void there, but instead finds a loaf of white bread. Such a clear manifestation of God's grace once again proves to the young man that he should devote himself to the church.

Convent of the Virgin Mary

Anselm of Canterbury Philosophy
Three years after the beginning of their joint journey, our wanderers fall into a monastery, which is under the care of a famous priest and scholar Lanfranc. There is also a school here that can give the best education in Europe to anyone who is willing to study and who asks about it. Naturally, Anselm happily bites into the granite of science, and soon becomes the best student. After another ten years, he decides to get a haircut as a monk and live a righteous life. As a standard he took the lives of saints who spent their days in prayers for humanity, constantly fasting and teaching others to live according to the law of God.

a priest

Anselm of Canterbury years of life
Lanfranca is transferred to another monastery, and Anselm of Canterbury becomes the new priest. During this period, he formed ideas, which are then displayed in books on theology. Philosophical questions regarding the cause of the Savior's sacrifice, an instrument for knowing the world, occupy 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 Canterbury public recognition.

Cognition: faith or higher mind?

Anselm of Canterbury Biography
According to the surviving documents, Anselm of Canterbury, whose ideas were so actively and enthusiastically accepted by the church, believed that knowledge must be trusted, because if the world was born from the idea of ​​someone great, then only faith can help understand its purpose. This statement, somewhat controversial at first glance, immediately gained supporters who were able to convince everyone else of its truth. Moreover, one could deduce from this maxim that the concept of God is born simultaneously with man and already exists in him - therefore, God also exists.

Archbishop of Canterbury

Anselm of Canterbury Quotes
The successful campaign of William the Conqueror to capture Britain brought to Celtic land and Christianity, reinforced by fire and sword. Together with him, the priest Lanfranc came to bring the light of true faith. Anselm often visited his teacher and was liked by the local population. So when Lanfrank’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 on Foggy Albion were far from always simple. After William the Conqueror, a new king came, who did not want to listen to sermons from anyone and immediately entered into confrontation with the applicant for the post of bishop. For four long years their confrontation went on, and now, already on his deathbed, Wilhelm gives his consent to the appointment of Anselm. Soon after this decision was made, the disease that plagued the sovereign for a long time receded, and the death was postponed indefinitely.

Job introduction

Anselm canterbury philosophy basic ideas
By nature, a modest man, Anselm of Canterbury, whose philosophy did not allow him to lead other people, for a long time refused the dignity. Moreover, he was hated by all sorts of honors associated with this event. The love of pomposity was not characteristic of him. Therefore, he did not take 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 posts, which substantially replenished the treasury of the church. He did not stay at his post for long, exactly as long as he had been waiting for his 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 giving up. 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 of Europe, and the struggle for investiture, i.e. appointment to church posts, unfolded everywhere.

Last years

Anselm of Canterbury briefly
In the end, both sides came to an amicable settlement, which stated that just as bishops respect worldly authority, kings will also give the privilege of presenting the spiritual symbols of the Church.

Anselm of Canterbury, whose basic 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 philosopher from the church was haunted by the idea of ​​how simple 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 beyond which nothing could be thought. This statement will be clear even to a person who is completely unfamiliar with religious teachings, which means that an understanding of God is present in each of us from birth. Therefore, God exists, since it is logically impossible to think that he is not. This hypothesis was too debatable and radical for that time, and not everyone was ready to accept it. Later, in his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant will refute it.

Evidence of God's being

  1. Good and Good exist both in the context of the acts of God and independently of him in various spheres of being, as Anselm of Canterbury claimed. His main ideas came down to reflection on the many-sided essence of God. In this case, this is the essence of Good.
  2. Any thing has a 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 reason. So, the power that can create such an amazing “thing” is God.
  3. Each item has its own degree of perfection, which can be compared with others. And if there is comparative perfection, then there is incomparable. So it 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 a thought about a creature above which nothing can be thought, then this is God.

These four evidence were derived by Anselm of Canterbury (a biography was summarized in this article). Even in France, similar ideas began to come to him. They crystallized, rational and logical explanations were found, and lined up in a harmonious formula for the existence of God.

More information about this evidence can be found in the treatise entitled Proslozhium, 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 posterior statements

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

Anselm of Canterbury, whose philosophy could not be satisfied only with an indirect understanding of God, found a priori evidence of its existence. 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 God is perfect, and therefore existing. Thus, the proof of the existence of God is derived from the very concept of God.

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

Anselm of Canterbury was one of the most famous saints of his time. He has come a long way from the boy on whom God's mercy descended to a bishop who has power over the minds of his flock but does not abuse it. So we see now how Anselm of Canterbury lived and worked. Quotes from his treatises are still used by ministers of the church, even though philosophers have denied this evidence of the existence of God.


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