Credo ut intelligam: Anselm's 900th Anniversary

Nine hundred years ago today, the great Christian philosopher Anselm died (on April 21, 1109). Dr. Jerry W. Crick once wrote that "it was St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) who helped to span the historical and theological gap between the labors of men in the early Church and the groundwork that led finally and directly to the Reformation in Europe, first under Martin Luther, and then more thoroughly and effectively under John Calvin" (Jerry W. Crick, "The Doctrine of the Satisfaction of the Divine Justice by the Lord Jesus Christ as Seen in St. Anselm of Canterbury's Cur Deus Homo," n Joseph A. Pipa, Jr. and C.N. Willborn, eds., Confessing Our Hope: Essays Celebrating the Life and Ministry of Morton H. Smith, p. 57).

The life and work of the man who wrote (Proslogion) Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam. Nam et hoc credo, quia, nisi credidero, non intelligam. (Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand. For this, too, I believe, that, unless I first believe, I shall not understand) -- building on Augustine's statement (Sermons 43.7, 9) crede, ut intelligas (believe so that you may understand) and Paschasius Radbertus' argument in Faith, Hope and Love that faith precedes reason (cf. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 4, Chap. 14, § 173) -- is being celebrated by conferences and other events at Canterbury Cathedral, the University of Kent at Canterbury and elsewhere this week.

In dark times for the Christian Church, God shined forth his light and raised up an Anselm. May the Lord be pleased to raise up such giants of the faith in our day.

Anselm, Meditations and Prayers to the Holy Trinity and our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 125:

O Christ, my God, my Hope, of men Thou Lover and Delight,
My Life, Light, Health, Peace, of Thine the Grace and Glory bright,
For whose salvation Thou didst deign their every ill to bear,
The flesh, the bonds, the cross, the wound, the death and sepulchre;
Then after three days, over death triumphant didst arise,
To raise Thy servants' drooping hearts, to glad their downcast eyes;
Then on the fortieth, high above the Heaven of Heavens didst soar,
Where now Thou ever livest, where Thou reignest evermore.