Saint Anselm of Canterbury

Now, if on the basis of rational considerations
we sometimes make a statement
which we cannot clearly exhibit
in the words of Scripture,
or cannot prove by reference to these words,
nonetheless in the following way
we know by means of Scripture
whether the statement ought to be
accepted or rejected.
If the statement is arrived at by clear reasoning
and if Scripture in no respect contradicts it,
then
(since even as Scripture opposes no truth,
so it favors no falsity)
by the very fact that Scripture does not deny
that which is affirmed
on the basis of rational considerations,
this affirmation is supported
by the authority of Scripture.
But if Scripture unquestionably
opposes a view of ours,
then even though our reasoning
seems to us unassailable,
this reasoning should not be believed
to be supported by any truth.
In this way, then, Sacred Scripture—
in that it either clearly affirms them
or else does not at all deny them—
contains the authority
for all rationally derived truths.

—Anselm of Canterbury (AD 1107-1108).
III. Grace and Free Choice, 6.
In 'The Harmony of the Foreknowledge, the Predestination, and the Grace of God with Free Choice'

[So get to know someone.]

If only what is known is loved,
then just as there would not be any good
which He [Christ] would not love,
so there would not be any good
which He would not know.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

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[Chant needs some work. Thank God for Eadmer, after all.]

Ill Capwn & Al Seer [Ill Seer, Al Capwn] - Realms of Anselm II - Anselm's Realm Game type: Role Playing Game Screen: World Map Vocalist: singing, alliteration Producer: chiptune Realms of Anselm II: Anselm’s Realm INTRO omnia quae nobis sunt turpia Verse 1 Welcome to a

Now Anselm..., when he was a small boy lent a ready ear to his mother's conversation, so far as his age allowed. And hearing that there is one God in heaven who rules all things and comprehends all things, he—being a boy bred among mountains—imagined that heaven rested on the mountains, that the court of God was there, and that the approach to it was through the mountains.

When he had turned this over often in his mind, it happened one night that he saw a vision, in which he was bidden to climb to the top of the mountain and hasten to the court of the great king, God. But then, before he began to climb, he saw in the plain through which he was approaching the foot of the mountain, women—serfs of the king—who were reaping the corn, but doing so carelessly and idly. The boy was grieved and indignant at their laziness, and resolved to accuse them before their lord the king. Then he climbed the mountain and came to the royal court, where he found God alone with his steward. For, as he imagined, since it was autumn he had sent his household to collect the harvest. The boy entered and was summoned by the Lord. He approached and sat at his feet. The Lord asked him in a pleasant and friendly way who he was, where he came from and what he wanted. He replied to the question as best he could. Then, at God's command, the whitest of bread was brought him by the steward, and he refreshed himself with it in God's presence.

The next day therefore, when he recalled to his mind's eye all that he had seen, like a simple and innocent boy he believed that he had been in heaven and that he had been fed with the bread of God, and he asserted as much to others in public.

So the boy grew and was loved by all. His ways were upright and made him greatly to be loved. He went to school, he learnt his letters and in a short time made great progress.

1 John 3:16
By this we know love,
that he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

God gave his own Son,
who alone from his heart was born equal to him,
loved as he loves himself,
to Mary,
and of Mary was then born a Son
not another but the same one,
that naturally one might be
the Son of God and of Mary.

I want you, I hope for you, I seek you;
‘to you my heart has said, seek my face’;
‘your face, Lord, have I sought;
turn not your face from me.’

Enjoy a happy immortality

O Lord, I do not attempt to gain access to Your loftiness,
because I do not at all consider my intellect
to be equal to this [task].
But I yearn to understand some measure of Your truth,
which my heart believes and loves.
For I do not seek to understand in order to believe,
but I believe in order to understand.
For I believe even this:
that unless I believe, I shall not understand.[1]

—'Proslogion'; AD 1077-1078

[1] Isaiah 7:9 (Old Latin translation of the Septuagint)

But lest someone think
that Divine Authority calls just or upright
a man who keeps uprightness-of-will
only for the sake of something else,
we say that justice is uprightness-of-will
kept for its own sake.
For he who keeps uprightness
only for the sake of something else
does not cherish uprightness
but cherishes that thing
for whose sake he keeps uprightness.
And so he must not be called just,
and such uprightness
must not be called justice.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1107-1108).
III. Grace and Free Choice, 2.
In 'The Harmony of the Foreknowledge, the Predestination, and the Grace of God with Free Choice'

A24

Veni, Veni, Emmanuel - with lyrics Hayley Westenra's cover of this classic Advent hymn (in Latin and English). I absolutely love this song, and was happy this morning so thought I would make a...

In all these occurrences [of human redemption]
the divine nature [in the God-man]
was not abased
but the human nature was exalted.
The divine nature was not weakened
but the human nature was mercifully assisted.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
'A Meditation on Human Redemption'

A23

Why did you, O good Lord,
gracious Redeemer, mighty Savior,
why did You veil such great strength
with such great lowliness? ...
For You did not assume a human nature
in order to conceal
what was known about You
but in order to reveal
what was unknown about You.
You said that
You were truly divine and truly human,
and You demonstrated this fact
through Your works.
The hiddenness was unavoidable,
not deliberate.
The reason that the event occurred as it did
was not in order to be hidden,
but in order to be performed in the right way.
[It happened in that way]
not in order to deceive anyone,
but in order to be done as was fitting.
If this event is called concealed,
then it is called so only because
it is not revealed to everyone.
Although Truth
does not manifest itself to everyone,
it does not withhold itself from anyone.
Therefore, O Lord, in becoming incarnate
it was not Your purpose to deceive anyone
or to cause anyone to deceive himself.
You remained in the truth in every respect
so that You might do what had to be done
in the way it had to be done.
Hence, let anyone who has deceived himself
regarding Your truth
complain not about You
but about the falsehood in himself.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
'A Meditation on Human Redemption'

A22

Yet these things are not devoid
of great significance.
For “Christ, who suffered for us,
leaving us an example
so that we would follow in His footsteps,”[1]
also gave us in these things an example
of enduring incomparable
contempt and poverty
for the sake of justice.
For He was held in such contempt
and was judged to be so execrable
that He was not deemed worthy to die
inside any dwelling of men,
or among any men except the execrable,
or under any roof except the sky,
from beneath which
He could not be driven away.
Thus, according to the prophet,
He was regarded as
“the scorn of men and
the rejected of the people.”[2]
Moreover, He was so poor
that when He came into the world
He was born not in His own house
but in another's.
And, once born, He was placed,
for lack of a room,
in the manger of brute animals.
And living in the world,
He had no place to rest His head.
And dying, He had nothing
with which to cover His nakedness.
And dead, He had nothing
with which to be enshrouded;
and He had neither a sepulcher nor a place
where His dead body could be reposited.

One should imitate all these things
in one's life by deeds,
as reason demands,
rather than signifying the nakedness of Christ
by the nudity of the sacrifice
[during the sacrament].

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1105).
III.
In 'Sacraments of the Church'

[1] 1 Peter 2:21
[2] Psalm 22:6
[2] Isaiah 53:3

A21

In Christ
the diversity of natures
and the oneness-of-person
served the following end:
If the human nature was not able to do
what was required to be done
for restoring men,
then the divine nature would do it;
and if [what was required]
did not at all befit the divine nature,
then the human nature would do it.
And not two different [individuals]
but one and the same [individual],
existing perfectly in two natures,
would pay through His human nature
what this nature ought to pay
and would be able through His divine nature
to do what was required.

A20

In Christ
the diversity of natures
and the oneness-of-person
served the following end:
If the human nature was not able to do
what was required to be done for restoring men,
then the divine nature would do it;
and if [what was required]
did not at all befit the divine nature,
then the human nature would do it.
And not two different [individuals]
but one and the same [individual],
existing perfectly in two natures,
would pay through His human nature
what this nature ought to pay
and would be able through His divine nature
to do what was required.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

How miraculous it is
for the divine nature and a human nature
so to conjoin in one [individual]
that the integrity of each nature is preserved
and the same [individual]
who is divine is also human!
Therefore, who would presume
even to suppose
that the human intellect
would be able to discern
how wisely and how miraculously
so inscrutable a work was done?

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1098).
16. How God assumed from the sinful mass a sinless human nature. The salvation of Adam and of Eve..
In 'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'

A19

From the very moment that
that man [Christ] will exist
He will always be fully divine,
just as He is fully human.
Hence,
He will never exist without
His power, might, and wisdom.

A18

From the very moment that
that man [Christ] will exist
He will always be fully divine,
just as He is fully human.
Hence,
He will never exist without
His power, might, and wisdom.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

Since reason has led us inescapably to conclude
(1) that the divine nature and a human nature
must join together in one person,
and
(2) that this union cannot occur
with regard to a plurality of divine persons,
and
(3) that, obviously, the union occurs
more suitably in regard to
the person of the Word
than in regard to
either of the other two persons,
it is necessary that
the Divine Word
and a human nature
conjoin in one person.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1098).
9. It is necessary that the Word alone and a human nature conjoin in one person..
In 'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'

A17

Man
(for whom the Son was going to pray)
and the Devil
(whom the Son was going to defeat)
had, by virtue of an autonomous willing,
arrogated to themselves a false likeness to God.

Therefore,
they had sinned more specifically, so to speak,
against the person of the Son,
who is believed to be
the true likeness of the Father.*

Hence,
the punishment or the remission of the guilt
is more fittingly assigned to Him
to whom the wrong is more specifically done.

A16

Man (for whom the Son was going to pray)
and the Devil (whom the Son was going to defeat)
had, by virtue of an autonomous willing,
arrogated to themselves a false likeness to God.
Therefore, they had sinned more specifically, so to speak,
against the person of the Son,
who is believed to be the true likeness of the Father.*
Hence, the punishment or the remission of the guilt
is more fittingly assigned to Him
to whom the wrong is more specifically done.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

* II Corinthians 4:4
* Colossians 1:15

We must now also ask
in which one of His persons
God, who is three persons,
would assume a human nature.
For a plurality of the persons cannot assume
one and the same human nature
into a oneness of person.
Therefore, it is necessary
that this assumption take place
with respect to only one [of the three] persons.
Now, in the letter
"On the Incarnation of the Word,"
[http://www.jasper-hopkins.info/DeIncarnatione.pdf]
addressed to Lord Pope Urban,
I have spoken
—to an extent that I regard as sufficient
for the present investigation—
about this oneness of person
of the divine nature and a human nature
and have said for which person of God
this most fittingly occurs.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1098).
9. It is necessary that the Word alone and a human nature conjoin in one person..
In 'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'http://www.jasper-hopkins.info/DeIncarnatione.pdf

A15

Therefore, do not paint on an empty fiction
but paint on the solid truth,
and affirm that the following
is especially fitting:

As the sin of man
and the cause of our condemnation
took its beginning from a woman,
so the remedy for sin
and the cause of our salvation
is born from a woman.

And in order that women not despair
of belonging to the company of the blessed
(since it was from a woman
that so great an evil proceeded),
it is fitting that so great a good
proceed from a woman,
in order to reestablish women's hope.

And paint the following:
If a virgin was the cause
of all the evil to the human race,
then it is much more fitting
that a virgin would be the cause
of all the good for the human race.

And paint this too:
If the woman whom God created
from a man without a woman
was created from a virgin,
then it is also especially fitting
for the man who would be made
from a woman without a man
to be made from a virgin.

But for now let these be
enough examples of the pictures
which can be painted on the truth that
the God-man ought to be
born from a virgin woman.

A14

Therefore, do not paint on an empty fiction
but paint on the solid truth,
and affirm that the following is especially fitting:

As the sin of man and the cause of our condemnation
took its beginning from a woman,
so the remedy for sin and the cause of our salvation
is born from a woman.
And in order that women not despair
of belonging to the company of the blessed
(since it was from a woman that so great an evil proceeded),
it is fitting that so great a good proceed from a woman,
in order to reestablish women's hope.

And paint the following:
If a virgin was the cause
of all the evil to the human race,
then it is much more fitting
that a virgin would be the cause
of all the good for the human race.
And paint this too:
If the woman whom God created
from a man without a woman
was created from a virgin,
then it is also especially fitting
for the man who would be made
from a woman without a man
to be made from a virgin.

But for now let these be enough examples of the pictures
which can be painted on the truth that
the God-man ought to be born from a virgin woman.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

God can create a human being
in either of four ways: viz.,
(1) from a man and a woman
—as constant experience shows;
(2) neither from a man nor from a woman
—as He created Adam;
(3) from a man without a woman
—as He created Eve;
(4) from a woman without a man
—something which He had not yet done.
Therefore, in order for Him to prove that
even this fourth way is subject to His power
and was reserved for this very purpose,
nothing is more fitting than that
He assume from a woman without a man
that man about whom we are inquiring.
Now, we need not discuss whether
this would be done more worthily
from a virgin or from a non-virgin;
instead, we must affirm, without any doubt,
the fittingness of the God-man's being born
from a virgin.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1098).
8. God ought to assume a human nature from the race of Adam and from a virgin woman..
In 'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'
A13

Therefore, since it is necessary
to find a God-man
who retains the integrity of both natures,
it is no less necessary
that these two integral natures
conjoin in one person
(just as a body and a rational soul
conjoin in one man);
for otherwise it is impossible
that one and the same [individual]
be fully divine and fully human.
A12

We must now investigate the manner
in which a God-man can exist.
For it is not the case
that the divine nature and the human nature
can be changed into each other
so that the divine nature becomes human
or the human nature becomes divine;
and it is not the case that they can be so mingled
that from these two natures there is formed a third nature
which is neither fully divine nor fully human.
Indeed, if it were possible
for the one nature to be changed into the other,
then the result would be
only someone who is divine
and not someone who is human,
or else only someone who is human
and not someone who is divine.
Or if they were so mingled
that from the two corrupted natures
a third nature were formed
(as from two individual animals
—one male and one female,
but of different species—
a third animal is born,
which does not retain fully
either the nature of the father
or the nature of the mother
but receives a third nature,
which is a mixture of the two),
then the result would be
neither someone who is human
nor someone who is divine.
Therefore, the God-man about whom we are asking
cannot be made from a divine nature and a human nature
either by the transformation of the one into the other
or by the corrupt mingling of both into a third.
For these things cannot happen;
or if they would happen,
they would not apply to what we are investigating.

But if these two integral natures
are said to be conjoined in some manner such that,
nevertheless,
the human nature is distinct from the divine nature
and the one who is divine
is not identical with the one who is human,
then it is impossible for either one
to do what must be done.
For the one who is divine will not do it,
because He will not be under obligation to do it;
and the one who is human will not do it,
because he will not be able to do it.
Hence, in order that a God-man will do this,
it is necessary that one and the same [individual]
be fully divine and fully human,
so as to make this satisfaction.
For only one who is truly divine can make satisfaction,
and only one who is truly human ought to make it.
Therefore, since it is necessary to find a God-man
who retains the integrity of both natures,
it is no less necessary
that these two integral natures
conjoin in one person
(just as a body and a rational soul
conjoin in one man);
for otherwise it is impossible
that one and the same [individual]
be fully divine and fully human.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

Only a God-man can make the satisfaction
by means of which man is saved.
A11

Only a God-man can make the satisfaction
by means of which man is saved.

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book II'; AD 1098

Man's salvation can by no means occur
if we assume that Christ does not exist...

A10

Man's salvation can by no means occur
if we assume that Christ does not exist...

—'Why God Became a [God-]Man, Book I'; AD 1098

Virgin venerated throughout the world,
Mother dear to the human race,
Woman, marvel of the angels,
Mary, most holy.
By your blessed virginity
you have made all integrity sacred,
and by your glorious child-bearing
you have brought salvation to all fruitfulness.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1070-1080+).
From "Prayer to St Mary (2)".
In 'Prayers and Meditations'
A09

Virgin venerated throughout the world,
Mother dear to the human race,
Woman, marvel of the angels,
Mary, most holy.
By your blessed virginity
you have made all integrity sacred,
and by your glorious child-bearing
you have brought salvation to all fruitfulness.

—'Prayers and Meditations'

The Son of the Virgin alone was in Adam
in a way vastly different from that of other men.
Indeed, all others [except Him] were in Adam
in such a way that they would exist from him
by means of the reproductive nature,
which was subject to his power and will.
But only the Son of the Virgin
did not exist in Adam in such way
that He would be derived from Adam
by means of Adam's nature or will.
For at the time Adam sinned
he had already received,
with respect to these others,
the power to be the one
from whom they would exist
and the power to cause them to exist from him.

But with respect to the Son of the Virgin,
[Adam had received the power]
to be the one from whom He would exist
but [had] not [received the power
to cause] Him to exist from him,
because it was not in Adam's power
that the Son of the Virgin
be propagated from him.
But neither was it in Adam's power
that the Son of the Virgin be derived
from some other being
or be made from nothing.

Hence, it was not in Adam's power
that the Son of the Virgin
should in any way exist.
For it was
neither in the power of Adam's nature
nor in the power of Adam's will
that the Son of the Virgin
should in any way exist.
Nevertheless, there was in Adam
the nature from which
the Son of the Virgin was to be propagated
—propagated, though, by the power of God,
not by the power of Adam.

It is true that in the lineage of ancestors
down to the Virgin Mother,
the will motivated and the nature begat,
so that partly by the natural order
and partly by the voluntary order
the Virgin herself derived
her own existence from Adam,
just like all the others.
Nevertheless, in the Virgin herself
neither did the will of the creature
motivate the production of an offspring
nor did the nature beget an offspring,
but the “Holy Spirit”
and “the Power of the Most High”*
miraculously begat a man
from the Virgin Woman.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
23. Why and how [sin] is transmitted to infants..
In 'The Virgin Conception and Original Sin'
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God.

* Luke 1:35
John 1:12

A08

Although a man is called blind,
blindness is not in any part of him
except in the eye,
where sight ought to be;
for blindness is
not in the hand or in the foot.
And when a man is called deaf,
deafness is nowhere except in the ear.

Similarly, even though
the mass of the human race is called sinful,
sin is not in any part of the human race
except (as I have said) in the will;
and the seed is known not to have a will
at the moment of human conception.
Therefore,
if the arguments given above are pondered,
then since no true
or seemingly true reasoning
contradicts them,
we can now freely conclude that
no reason, no truth, and no understanding
allows that
anything pertaining to
the sin of the sinful mass
either could have, or should have,
affected the man
who was conceived from the Virgin alone
—even though He was assumed
from the sinful mass
and even were He not God.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
15. How the sinful mass is not sinful as a whole..
In 'The Virgin Conception and Original Sin'
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:12
A07

Now, although nothing happens
except by the efficient or the permissive
will of God,
nevertheless
(1) certain things are done
by His power and will alone,
(2) certain things are done
by created nature, and
(3) still other things are done
by the will of the creature.
But just as by itself
created nature can do nothing
except what it has received
from the will of God,
so by itself
the creature's will can do nothing
except what nature either
assists in or concedes.

(1) In the beginning,
the will of God alone
created the natures of things,
giving to certain of them
wills suitable to each,
so that these natures and wills
might accomplish their work
in the course of things,
doing so in accordance with that order
which God prescribed for them.
And the will of God
continues to do many things
when from these natures and wills
it accomplishes what they themselves
would not at all do in accordance
with their appointed use and purpose.

Indeed, it is the work of God's will alone
when the sea offers to a people
a dry path within itself,
when the dead rise,
when water is suddenly changed into wine,
when the minds of men
are taught by the Holy Spirit
things which they did not know
either by themselves
or from another creature,
when under the guidance of grace alone
evil wills are converted
from their evil impulses
unto that which is beneficial,
and when many other things are done
which neither the creature
nor the will of the creature
would have done
through its usual course of activity.

(2) Nature draws
what is heavy downward
and what is light upward.
Nature causes
the earth to bring forth
countless herbs and trees
and causes these to bear fruit;
sometimes nature does this
by means of a [human] will
that first plants and cultivates,
and sometimes without
the initial working of a will.
And nature does many other things
which we recognize
more readily by witnessing
than by being taught.

(3) But things of the following kind
are attributed to a will:
traveling, building, writing, speaking,
and similar things which only a will does.

Therefore, since careful examination shows
that whatever occurs is done either
(1) by the will of God alone or
(2) by nature in accordance
with the power given to it by God
or
(3) by the will of a creature
(and since things which are done
neither by created nature
nor by the will of a creature
but solely by the will of God
are always miracles),
there appear to be
three orders of events:
viz.,
[1] the miraculous,
[2] the natural,
[3] and the voluntary.

Indeed,
the miraculous is not at all subject
to the others or to their law
but rules freely.
Nor does it do violence to them
when it is seen to oppose them;
for they have nothing
except what they have received from it,
and it has given them nothing
except what is subordinate to it.

Therefore,
since the propagation of a man
from a virgin alone
is neither natural nor voluntary
but is miraculous*
(even as both the propagation
which produced a woman
from a man alone
and the creation of a man
from clay are miraculous),
it is clear that this propagation
is not at all subject
to the laws and merits of propagation
effected by both the will and nature,
although separately.
(For in this work the will does one thing
and nature does another thing.)

Nevertheless,
Adam,
[who was begotten]
from no other human being,
and Jesus,
[who was begotten]
from a woman alone,
and Eve,
[who was begotten]
from a man alone,
are all real human beings
—just as any man or woman
[who is begotten]
from a man and a woman
is a real human being.
Now, every human being
is either Adam or from Adam.
But Eve is from Adam alone,
and all others are from Adam and Eve.
Now, since Mary,
from whom alone Jesus is [begotten],
is from Adam and Eve,
Jesus must be from Adam and Eve.
For in this way it was expedient that
He who was going to
redeem the human race
would exist from, and be born from,
the father and the mother
of all [human beings].

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
11. Propagation from the Virgin is not subject to the law and merits of natural propagation. There are three orders of events..
In 'The Virgin Conception and Original Sin'

* John 1:12
A06

God, by His own power and will,
created one man from the clay,
created another man from a woman alone,
and created a woman from a man alone.

—Anselm of Cantebury (AD 1099-1100).
11. Propagation from the Virgin is not subject to the law and merits of natural propagation. There are three orders of events..
In 'The Virgin Conception and Original Sin'
A05