[NOTICE: This piece must be read as if Anselm himself is speaking. Why is it in this format? Because I wrote it as a monologue, which I also presented at the chapel service of Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, on 17 February 2009.]
My Monologion should
actually be entitled An Example of
Meditation on the Meaning of Faith, because it is an analytic meditation on
the content of faith without reference to the Scriptures. I wrote this in
response to my brethren’s request to write down, “as a kind of model meditation,”[1] some of the things I have
said about the divine essence. Its method is strictly philosophical: “nothing
whatsoever to be argued on the basis of the authority of Scripture, but the
constraints of reason concisely to prove, and the clarity of truth clearly to
show, in the plain style, with everyday arguments, and down-to-earth dialectic,
the conclusions of distinct investigations.”[2] Like in Augustine’s time,
my brethren had difficulties in understanding the contents of their faith, and
so they were ready to either abandon their faith or abandon their pursuit of the
knowledge of God, and so it necessitated me to write something as an example of
employing the godly gift of reason to probe deeper into the faith. My basic
proposition is that faith is assent to the Truth, which can also be proven and
made understandable by the help of the intellect. An example of this endeavour
is my ontological argument for the existence of God.
My other book, Proslogion, should
also be titled as Faith in Quest of Understanding. In it, rather
than propositions of
the faith giving the content for a philosophical meditation, the appalling awareness of my
own lack of faith drove me to my quest for understanding. Here, though, we must
distinguish between the act of faith and the content of faith. I had faith, but
I was not able to fully grasp the contents of my faith. And so I wrote:
Come then, Lord
my God, teach me where and how to seek You, where and how to find You. Lord, if
You are not present here, where, since You are absent, shall I look for You? On
the other hand, if You are everywhere why then, since You are present, do I not
see You? But surely You dwell in ‘light inaccessible’ [1 Tim. 6: 16]….Never
have I seen You, Lord my God, I do not know Your face.[3]
On the other hand, far from divinizing the intellect, we should
acknowledge that we cannot, by natural reason alone, comprehend God. This is
why, as I stressed in the Proslogion, the
proper context for the pursuit of wisdom is prayer and confession. Reason,
though helpful, should not be considered as an independent autonomous source of
godly wisdom. To believe this otherwise is impiety. Without humility before the truth, and recognition
of the priority of faith, there can be no progress in wisdom and understanding.
As I wrote in the Proslogion,
I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that You
have created Your image in me, so that I may remember You, think of You, love
You. But this image is so effaced and worn away by vice, so darkened by the
smoke of sin, that it cannot do what it was made to do unless You renew it and
reform it. I do not try, Lord, to attain Your lofty heights, because my
understanding is in no way equal to it. But I do desire to understand Your
truth a little, that truth that my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek
to understand so that I may believe; but I believe so that I may understand.
For I believe this also, that ‘unless I believe, I shall not understand’ [Isa.
7: 9].[4]
I would like to
comment upon my famous dictum fides
quarens intellectum, or in your language today, “faith seeking
understanding.” Faith, for me, is more than a volitional assent to
propositional truths. Faith is actually more like an epistemic state: it is
love for God and a drive to act as God wills. So, when I said “faith seeking understanding,”
I meant to say “an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.” What
I am saying is that with the help of reason, one who already loves God will
learn even more to desire the knowledge of God.
God of truth I
ask that I may receive so that my ‘joy may be complete.’ Until then let
my mind meditate on
it, let my tongue speak of it, let my heart love it, let my mouth
preach it. Let my soul
hunger for it, let my flesh thirst for it, my whole being desire it,
until I enter into the
‘joy of the Lord’ [Matt. 25:21], who is God, Three in One, ‘blessed
forever, amen’ [Rom. 1: 25].[5]
Perhaps it is
best to conclude this talk with a prayer that I wrote:
My God,
I pray that I may know you and love
you
that I may rejoice in
you.
And if I may not do so fully in this
life
let me go steadily on
the day when I come to that fullness
Let me receive
that which you promised
through your truth
that my joy may be full.
No comments:
Post a Comment