St. Anselm: Benedictine Bishop who Battled For Religious Freedom and Human Rights
April 21 is the feast of St. Anslem, a Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian, who held the office of archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. He is a Doctor of the Church who is known as "the most luminous and penetrating intellect between St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas" and "the Father of Scholasticism ". He preferred to defend the Faith using intellectual reasoning rather than with Scripture passages. The genius of Saint Anselm's reasoning and writing about faith and God has captivated and influenced scholars since the Middle Ages. His highly acclaimed work, Monologium ( Monologue ), provides proof of God's existence. His Proslogium (Addition) , advances the idea that God exists according to the human notion of a perfect being in whom nothing is lacking. In his greatest work, Cur Deus Homo ( Why God Became Man ) he views Christ’s death in light of God’s mercy and love. Some of the world's greatest theologians and philoso...