February 17 - Anselm of Canterbury

February 17 – Anselm of Canterbury

Before we see the final nail in the coffin for the unity of the church, let’s take a short break and move north to England. Things have been happening there and we need to check in on them.

There was a young man born in Italy in 1033 who decided that he wanted nothing to do with politics, though his father desired that of him and set out to find himself by wandering through Europe. Unlike those students who set out to find themselves today, he joined a monastery in Normandy. The thing is – that’s what most bright young men of his day did when they were too restless to join their father’s business.

In 1066, William of Normandy conquered England. It wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to England, he brought teachers and preachers with him. One of those men was a teacher from that same monastery in Normandy where our young hero landed. Anselm then became the abbot of the monastery.

Now, in 1093, William’s son (William II, by the way) brought Anselm to England and made him the Archbishop of Canterbury. Believe it or not, this created an issue. William II wanted to control the clergy. Anselm wanted to protect the church from greedy kings. He refused the appointment and pretty much ended up in exile in Italy. What did William do? Stole all of the monies that were to go to Canterbury. Next step – William died and his brother Henry took over. He asked Anselm to return. But Henry was no better, the battle between the two men grew and Anselm headed back to exile.

While Anselm was in exile, he took the time to write. His theory about Christ’s death on the cross reconciling man to God became known as the Satisfaction Theory of Atonement. God can’t overlook man’s sin and is offended by it. He wants to forgive man, but must maintain moral order in the universe. Only man could satisfy the offense, but man couldn’t do it adequately. So, God became man – that way the one who could satisfy is both God and man – Christ.

Anselm loved logic and philosophy, but his statement “I believe in order to understand” reminded his readers that those who looked for truth first needed to have faith. And it is from Anselm that we get an idea that continues to fascinate us: human reason demands the idea of a perfect Being, therefore that Being must exist.