Proslogium: Monologium; An Appendix, in Behalf of the Fool, By Gaunilon; And Cur Deus Homo (Classic Reprint)

Bee in Normandy (1060), succeeded Lanfranc as Abbot (1078), and as Archbishop of Canterbury (1093). He died in 1109. He left a great number of writings, the most important of which are :the Dialogus de grammatico, the Monologium de divinilatis essentia sive xemj lum de rationefidei, the Proslogium sive Fides guoerens intellectum, the Deveritate, the Defide trinitatis, and the Cur Deus Homo? The second A ugustine, as St. A nselmus had been called, starts out from the same principle as the first; hg hnl Hsthat faith precedes all reflection and all discussion concerning religious things. The unbelievers, he says, strive to understand because they do not believe; we, on the contrary, strive to understand because we believe., They and uie have the same object in viezu; but inamuph.as thexdpj Dot.belifisca. they cannot arrive at their goal..whichisl Qunderstand the dogma. The unbeliever will never understand. In religion faitfa plays the part played by experience jj Lthe understanding of the t Emgs of this world. The Jnbliud man cannot see the light, and theretore aoes not understand it; the deaf-mute, who has never perceived sound, cannot have a clear idea of sound. Similarly, not to believe means not to perceive, and not to perceive means not to understand. Hence, we do not reflect in order that we may believe; on the contrary, we !believe in order that we may arrive at knowledge. AC hristian Jought never to doubt the beliefs and teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. All he can do is to strive, as humbly as possible, to -understand her teachings by believing them, to love them, and resolutely to observe them in his daily life. Should he succeed jn understanding the Christian doctrine, let him render thanks to God, the source of all intelligence I In case he fails, that is no reason why he should obstinately attack the dogmaTB u Fa. fegson jwhy he s Could boviTE
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)