By the time Anselm wrote his Monologium and Proslogium, the "Great Conversation" had taken a very different turn. What new topics does Anselm address? Do you find yourself more interested in Anselm's ideas than in the ideas of earlier apologists, or do you find the material not as interesting? Why?
Anselm takes a different approach in the fact he doesn't address the proof of Christianity from the standpoint of man, that is, what to believe in, but the nature of God Himself. Anselm takes time and describes the attributes of God (Ch. 18-28), how love from the Trinity proceeds from what the Son did, and the relationship of the three persons in the Trinity. Since this cannot be explained, it is a truth that must be believed.
ReplyDeleteKent Johnsen
Anselm used an exercise to describe the attributes of God. There was also an exercise used in the class to describe the attributes of God. Unfortunately we are only able to describe attributes that we are familiar with and really picked ones that would apply to a human ruler. I have felt that God is farther beyond our understanding of God than the ants’ understanding of us. We suffer the same failing of the Greeks, the anthropomorphism of God – the old man sitting on his throne in clouds or reaching from the cloud to touch Adam. I believe there is a single God, creator of everything that is good and everything that is bad.
ReplyDeleteJerry Taylor
Anselm does a spinoff of what Christianity is interesting. He not only talks about God but as a being. Anselm talks about how great God is "There is a being which is best, and greatest, and highest of all existing beings". In this whole Chapter Anselm gives us a good definition on who God is and where he comes from. I think this book as a whole puts a new perspective on who God was. Anselm gives us lots of characteristics of God however lots of attributes can be compared with Emperors. I think God being God and knowing all things should be put on a bigger platform as well as pedestal.
ReplyDeleteThe way Anselm talks about God is very interesting to me. He compares God to emperors which is wrong since emperors have only mortal bodies and don't have the knowledge of everything happening. This is a trait only God has since he is God and is all knowing.
ReplyDeleteIn my own time, I have been working on a rather large work called "Our Watchword and Song," a book that depicts the origins of the Nazarene denomination. After reading Anselm and some of his works, I wonder if beliefs down the way the Nazarene denomination started here in Anselm's works. I reason with Anselm's theory that the love of God flowing from the Trinity through the person of Jesus Christ relates well to the Wesleyan tradition that Nazarenes break off of. Where especially the fruits of the spirit are highlighted in the Nazarene faith. The belief, though, is those gifts flow from the spirit within that Christ died for in his love for us to give us as humans. This causes us to gain the truest sense of love and gifts of the spirit as we can manage as mortal humans. In allowing the spirit to flow, we most closely allow God to have the guiding hand in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThere are still some significant differences between what Anselm believed and what the Nazarene denomination would do today. However, I wonder if that is the case, as the church was still relatively unified. Anselm and Abelard seem to bring a new spirit of conflict that questions the church's authority. Even Aquinas, for that matter, seems to reject the church's power and goes against the status quo; scripture says to whom much is given, much is expected. I do not have certainty of evidence in this claim, but these three men from this unit understand that they have many new perspectives. They do not care what has been established; instead, they want to search for a more profound truth, one it seems others dare not venture to.
This is where I say Anselm comes in as he seems to think of the relationship of the Trinity and man in a new way. He brings much more love in through the son of the Trinity. Many Protestant Christain denominations rely heavily upon their church doctrines to this day. While Luther is still a ways away, I wonder if here is where the differences between church theologies start to arise.
Tanner Simon