Proslogium/Monologium/Cur Deus Homo/In Behalf of the Fool

by Anselm of Canterbury, Sidney N. Deane (Translator), Gaunilo

Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was one of the originators of medievil scholastic philosophy. This collection of his best-known philosophical works contains, among other things, the Proslogium, in which Anselm first put forward the famous ontological argument for the existence of God. Also included are Gaunilo of Maurmoutier's criticism of Anselm's argument and Anselm's reply to Gaunilo.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Classics, Christian, Medieval, Christianity

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1100

About the author

born 1033

People best know Italian-born English theological philosopher and prelate Saint Anselm for his ontological argument for the existence of God.


He entered the Benedictine order at the abbey of Bec at the age of 27 years in 1060 and served as abbot in 1079.

Anselm, a Benedictine monk of monastery at Bec, from 1093 held the office of the Church of archbishop of Canterbury. Called the founder of scholasticism, this major famous originator of the satisfaction theory of atonement influenced the west. He served as archbishop of Canterbury under William II. From 1097, people exiled him to 1100.

As a result of the investiture controversy, the most significant conflict between Church and state in Medieval Europe, Henry I again from 1105 exiled him to 1107.

A bull of Clement XI, pope, proclaimed Anselm a doctor of the Church in 1720 . We celebrate his feast day annually on 21 April.

Reviews

[booklady]

As of April 28, I am setting this on a back burner. Although I got to page 161, I don't think I retained very much as I was not giving it my full attention.

I have been watching the Lenten meditation videos by Ken and Janelle on Hell, Purgatory and Heaven* and now that they have moved onto Heaven, they are drawing heavily from St. Anselm's writings, especially a new book from Tan, The Glories of Heaven: The Supernatural Gifts that Await Body and Soul in Paradise, which I am sure is good, but at 70-something pages will only skim the great and holy saint's writings. This book here is a more complete (not mention cheaper!) collection for those who have the time (God willing!) and prefer to read the totality of what a saint has written.

*It's an excellent series which I highly recommend and even if you haven't been watching it, you can go back and watch it at any time along with all their other videos.

This from when I first discovered this book, back in 2022: If I just get to read the Proslogium, I'll think I did well. The introduction is awesome! Here it is:

“Insignificant man, rise up! Flee your preoccupations for a little while. Hide yourself for a time from your turbulent thoughts. Cast aside, now, your heavy responsibilities and put off your burdensome business. Make a little space free for God; and rest for a little time in him.

Enter the inner chamber of your mind; shut out all thoughts. Keep only thought of God, and thoughts that can aid you in seeking him. Close your door and seek him. Speak now, my whole heart! Speak now to God, saying, I seek your face; your face, Lord, will I seek.

And come you now, O Lord my God, teach my heart where and how it may seek you, where and how it may find you.

Lord, if you are not here, where shall I seek you when you are absent? But if you are everywhere, why do I not see you present? Truly you dwell in unapproachable light. But where is unapproachable light, or how shall I come to it? Or who shall lead me to that light and into it, that I may see you in it? Again, by what signs, under what form, shall I seek you? I have never seen you, O Lord, my God; I do not know your face.

What, O most high Lord, shall this man do, an exile far from you? What shall your servant do, anxious in his love of you, and cast out far from your presence? He is breathless with desire to see you, and your face is too far from him. He longs to come to you, and your dwelling-place is inaccessible. He is eager to find you, but does not know where. He desires to seek you, and does not know your face.

Lord, you are my God, and you are my Lord, and never have I seen you. You have made me and renewed me, you have given me all the good things that I have, and I have not yet met you. I was created to see you, and I have not yet done the thing for which I was made.

And as for you, Lord, how long? How long, O Lord, do you forget us; how long do you turn your face from us? When will you look upon us, and hear us? When will you enlighten our eyes, and show us your face? When will you restore yourself to us?

Look upon us, Lord; hear us, enlighten us, reveal yourself to us. Restore yourself to us, that it may be well with us, yourself, without whom it is so ill with us. Pity our toilings and strivings toward you since we can do nothing without you.

Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me when I seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you by loving you and love you in the act of finding you.”

[Eve Tushnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

One star for the ontological argument, which even if it "works" is basically the Parmenides but less funny. Twelve stars for Cur Deus Homo, which is beautiful, weird (all beauty & all justice is balance... ok), and actually about obedience, not suffering, in spite of many later misreadings. CDH is so confident in God's tenderness toward us and the beauty of His actions. Needs to be read alongside works which emphasize the horror of the Cross, the disgrace Christ accepted in order to shatter the power of death, sin, and the Devil. But this is a strange and consoling work which I've read twice and will be glad to read a third time.

[Lucrecia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es emocionante leer a una mente tan clara. La mejor demostración racional de que Dios es uno en tres personas distintas.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anselm takes on an interesting task to prove the existence and nature of God from pure reason alone without using any biblical texts in the first two sections. In the last he sets up a strange question snd answer session with someone where he answers questions as to why it was necessary that God became man in Christ and the nature of the incarnation. It was an interesting read, but some parts felt forced and the format of the last felt unnecessary.

[Brent Buhler]

I had the great good fortune of preceeding my reading of Cur Deus Homo, (Anselm of Canterbury) written about 900 years ago, by reading reading a

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the course of three weeks, I will be reading this book, and I would like to review all three sections, but today, I will review only the first, as that is the only part I have read so far. The Proslogium was my first introduction to Scholasticism, which is the study of all human knowledge brought together as a whole under the authority of revelation. In an age where skepticism and relativity dominate our cultures, I feel a great desire to return to a more advanced system of Scholasticism, one where all seven elements of society are equal under God. For instance, Government, Community, Business, Media, Family, Church, and Education ought to be horizontal to one another and not vying for the top to rule over others. How I would love to live in a society which is seeking to bring all knowledge together under the umbrella of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful--God.

Anselm begins his Proslogium (a Discourse, Latin) with the purpose to find out whether there is one single argument that can stand on its own to demonstrate that God exists. His writing is similar to St. Augustine's as like a prayer. He is humble, possesses a seeking attitude and writes with the hope of being able to see the face of God someday.

Anselm writes as a man who lives in the dark ages, with great hunger for the light which was with Christ when he walked upon the earth, "O wretched lot of man when he hath lost that for which he was made! O hard and terrible fate! Alas, what has he lost, and what has he found? What has departed, and what remains? He has lost the blessedness for which he was made, and has found the misery for which he was not made, That has departed without which nothing is happy, and that remains which, in itself, is only miserable. Man once did eat the bread of angels, for which he hungers now; he eateth now the bread of sorrows, of which he knew not then. Alas! For the mourning of all mankind, for the universal lamentation of the sons of Hades! He choked with satiety; we sigh with hunger. He abounded, we beg. He possessed in happiness, and miserably forsook his possession; we suffer want in unhappiness, and feel a miserable longing, and alas! We remain empty."

As I read his words, my heart went out to this good man who had not the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but was hungry for it. It reminded me of Amos 8:11-12, wherein we learn of the Great Apostacy before the Fullness of Times, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor athirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

Update: November 23, 2016
I finished the Monologium and Cur Deus Homo and while I enjoyed seeing him work the logic on the Being of God and why God came down as Man, I struggled a little bit with the doctrines. He seems to spend a lot of time trying to make it all work, but still leaves the reader a bit confused; and sadly he doesn't realize that he is in the middle of a great apostasy, according to Isaiah. How grateful I am that the Gospel has been restored to the earth and that we can understand the nature and being of God and the mission of Jesus Christ on earth and in heaven through a Living Prophet Today.

[Michael T Moos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saint Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was called “the second Augustine” and rightly so. He so simply and eloquently explains the existence of God in the Proslogium, the being or nature of God in the Monologium, a response to some of his arguments including his famous ontological argument by “the Fool”, and my favorite, a discussion with “Boso” in Cur Deus Homo, “Why the God-man” as to why it was necessary for the salvation of man for Jesus to be exactly who He is and do exactly what He did to save us.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Medieval Philosophy is not exactly portrayed correctly in the movies. These selected writings tried to make their thoughts and concerns more "attractive" to modern readers. Make no mistake, this is a difficult reading in philosophy; not a humorous overview of Anselm.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a Benedictine Monk's discourse on the existence of God. It was hard and most of it went over my head truthfully. Some parts reminded me of Psalms in the Bible,(which was appropriate as he quoted Psalms several times).

[Krista Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing a research paper on the ontological argument, and so I picked up this edition of Anselm's works. The argument has piqued my interest, and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Anselm's original as well as Plantinga's version (who I believe sealed the argument against all its objectors).

[shanamadele]

Proslogium only. Not that I remember any of it. But just for the record.

[Reader2007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book! Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to read it really carefully, so I would really like to go back over it again.

[Matt]

The ultimate response to the Jehovah's Witnesses. I love Saint Anselm.

[Natalie Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Random fact: read the Proslogium while listening to the Inception soundtrack earlier this fall. A very good combination...

[Daniel Alvers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anselm was a brilliant thinker with a few crazy problems.

[Tinquerbelle]

Wolff, Robert Paul
Ten Great Works of Philosophy

In compilation only.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to read this not because I HAD to (Foundation Year program, King's College, 1993) ... but because I wanted to.

"God is that which no greater can be conceived."

[Mark Seeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first reading of Anselm after over twenty five years out of seminary. It almost like reading a prayer.

[Jonathan]

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