Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was a monk, philosopher and archbishop, remembered for a formula and an argument: faith that seeks understanding and ontological argument.
The life
Anselm was born around 1033 in Aosta, in northern Italy. While still young, he crossed the Alps and became a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Bec, in Normandy, where he was master and then abbot. In 1093 he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, in England, a position he held amid conflicts with the Crown until his death in 1109. He was later recognized as a saint and doctor of the Church.
Fides quaerens intellectum
He owes the formula that defines the program of theology: fides quaerens intellectum, the faith that seeks understanding. Heir of Augustine, Anselm did not oppose believing and thinking. For him, believing was the starting point for thinking more deeply.
The ontological argument
In the Proslogion, Anselm proposed the argument that would become known as ontological: God is that than which nothing greater can be thought. Discussed to this day, it is less important for its conclusion than for its method: faith seeking understanding, taking reason as far as it can go.
In-depth study
Church History Course, with Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Bitencourt
In-depth reading of the work of Daniel Rops, where the alliance between faith and reason and Augustine's conversion appear in full.
Discover the courseFrequently asked questions
When did Anselm of Canterbury live?
From around 1033 to 1109. Born in Aosta, in northern Italy, he was a monk in Bec, in Normandy, and archbishop of Canterbury, in England.
What is Anselm's best-known phrase?
Fides quaerens intellectum, the faith that seeks understanding. It summarizes his way of uniting believing and thinking.
What is the ontological argument?
It is the argument, proposed by Anselm in the Proslogion, that defines God as that which nothing greater can be thought of, and from there discusses his existence.
Continue: Faith and reason: rivals, separate or allies? · Fides quaerens intellectum · Credo ut intelligam
Home class (Community NousCast): Fé e Razão (Fides et Ratio)