Part 2 of this series, “Why I Don’t Believe God Exists,” will consider St. Anselm of Canterbury’s argument for the existence of God.

St. Anselm of Canterbury

BIOGRAPHY

Anselm was born c. 1033 in the Kingdom of Burgundy in the northern region of the Italian peninsula. As a young man, he had little interest in religion. After his father denied him permission to enter the monastery at the age of 15, Anselm spent the next twelve years in worldly living. However, on his father’s death, he entered the Benedictine abbey in Bec where his friend, Lanfranc, was abbot. Three years later, Lanfranc was transferred to Caen to become abbot of the new St. Stephen’s Abbey. Despite his youth, Anselm was elected prior by his fellow monks. In 1078, admired for his skill in teaching, Anselm was unanimously elected abbot. Under his leadership, the Abbey at Bec became a center of philosophical and theological thought. Anselm himself was respected as a scholar and also as a kind abbot who disciplined his monks, especially the younger ones, with patience and gentleness. During his years at Bec, Anselm composed two of his more well-known philosophical works, Monologion and Proslogion.

Despite is desire to stay at Bec, Anselm was appointed abbot of Canterbury Abbey in 1093 (the monks had to force the crozier into his hands and literally carry him to the church while the people sand the Te Deum). King William Rufus of England initially opposed Anselm’s appointment. The king had confiscated the abbey and lands of Canterbury for himself when Lanfranc, who had been appointed to Canterbury, died in 1089. He was reluctant to give up the lands. Eventually, he came to terms with Anselm’s appointment and returned the lands to the abbey. Even still, the king persistently refused to work with Anselm to reform the Church in areas related to morals of the faithful and the rights of bishops in the kingdom, and especially on the matter of investiture.

Investiture was the right of the king to “invest” a new bishop with his crozier and ring, the signs of his authority. It implied that the bishop reigned at the pleasure of the king, and so the king had his thumb on the bishop. Anselm, known for ruling the Abbey of Bec independently of secular monarchs and even other bishops who attempted to presume their authority on Bec, was a thorn in William Rufus’ reign. It was shortly after his arrival at Canterbury, in 1094-95, that Anselm wrote his most famous work, Cur Deus Homo (“Why God Became Man”), in which he offered his thoughts on soteriology. In 1102, Anselm was able to secure a prohibition of the sale of human beings into slavery by the Council of Westminster.

In protest of William Rufus’ refusal to reform, Anselm went into self-imposed exile in 1097 and stayed away from Canterbury until the king died in 1100. The new king, Henry I, called Anselm back to England, and he returned. However, Henry also refused to surrender the power of investiture and cooperate with other reforms, so Anselm went back into exile, this time in Rome, from 1103 to 1107. In 1107, after Henry and Anselm were able to negotiate Henry’s acceptance of some reforms, Anselm returned to Canterbury, spending the last two years of his life managing the concerns of his archbishopric, caring for the poor and continuing his fight for independence for the Church.  Anselm died on Holy Wednesday, April 21, 1109. He was canonized by Pope Alexander I in 1494 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720. He is known as the doctor magnificus (“Magnificent Doctor”). His feast is April 21.

ST. ANSELM OF CANTERBURY’S ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

St. Anselm of Canterbury’s monastic brothers asked that he compile his teachings on God and other matters into a single text. His brothers demanded, too, that in Anselm’s writings on God, he demonstrate that we can know God without the use of divine revelation (Scripture or Tradition), but by reason alone. Anselm’s answer to this challenge was his Monologion, which he wrote between 1075-76. In that treatise, he offered an argument for the existence of God similar to that of St. Thomas Aquinas in his On Essence and Being.

In the prologue to his Proslogion, written between 1077-78, Anselm wonders if there is yet a simpler proof for God’s existence.

Anselm argues: God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived. Anselm distinguishes between existing in one’s understanding, or mind – we might say existing “in theory” – and existing in reality. He gives the example of a painting. A painting might exist in theory in the painter’s mind, having an idea of what he wants to paint. But the painting doesn’t exist in reality until the painter paints it. So, too, the phrase “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” can exist in the mind, in theory, in that it’s possible to know what it means. But it doesn’t exist in reality because it exists in our minds. In our minds, it only exists in theory.

Now, God certainly exists in theory, in our minds, because we can think of God and know what God is. This begs the question: Is it greater to exist only in theory, or to exist in reality? Anselm answers that it is unquestionably greater to exist in reality. If so, then “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” must exist in reality. If “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” only exists in theory, then it is not “that than which nothing greater can be conceived,” because something greater can be conceived which is, of course, that which exists in reality.

Anselm received criticism for his argument from Gaunilo, a Benedictine monk, who argued that it does not logically follow that “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” must necessarily exist. Gaunilo famously used the example of the ideal island. The island that, in his mind, is the island “that than no greater island can be conceived” does not necessarily exist in reality. It may only be a phantasm in his mind. Anselm answers that, if one is thinking of something that does not exist, or even possibly does not exist, then it doesn’t meet the definition of “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” “That than which nothing greater can be conceived” must exist, because existence is required to meet the definition of “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.”

ST. ANSELM’S ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

1. God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

• It is possible to exist only in theory (ie: in the mind), or also in reality.

• God exists in theory, in that we can think of Him and know what God is (ie: God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived).

• But it is greater to exist in reality than to exist only in theory.

• Therefore, God must exist in reality, or He would not be that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

Criticisms of Anselm’s argument

Existence is not predicated on anything

Immanuel Kant argued that existence is not something that is predicated on anything, such as greatness. It’s not something you can add to anything to make that thing “perfect”.

Response: Existence isn’t be added to God. God is existence. Existence is not independent of God.

The greatest island

Kant further argued that it’s certainly possible to conceive of the existence of a greatest island, but conceiving it does not make it real

Response: Unless the thing is truly the greatest of its kind. Then it must exist, because none of the others of his kind can be judged greater or lesser unless the greatest truly exists.

No guarantee of God’s existence, even if He is the greatest

Even if God is the greatest conceivable thing, this conceptual understanding doesn’t guarantee His existence.

Response: Actually, it does, if you argue that non-existence is inferior to existence, which strikes me as a reasonable inference. Then anything that doesn’t exist would be inferior to anything that does. Under those circumstances, if God is the greatest that can be conceived, then His existence really would be necessary.

Anselm’s is a circular argument

Critics say that Anselm’s argument is circular: he first defines what God is, then uses that definition to prove His existence.

Response: This is circular only if Anselm’s definition of God is inadequate, as if he was creating a definition to suit a conclusion. But God being “that than which nothing greater can be conceived” is not an unreasonable definition of God, if God is God. You take people as they are and understand that what is possible for them is based on them as they are. The same is true for God.

Sources: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-anselm/

Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth by Matthew Levering, Baker Academic, 2016

Reason and Faith: Philosophy in the Middle Ages, Lecture 8: “Anselm’s Proof That God Exists” by Thomas Williams, The Teaching Company, 2007

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