Anselm Of Canterbury And The Doctrine Of God - 2087 Words

In the 11th century, French monk, Anselm of Canterbury wrote the Monologion in an attempt to demonstrate the existence and attributes of God by using reason alone. In his later work, Anselm tried to solidify the claims he made in the Monologion to make his final claim for the existence of God. That second work, the Proslogion contains his most famous proof for the existence of God. Beginning with what Anselm believed to be a fundamental idea of God, which is the belief, that God is some being of which nothing greater can be conceived. It is in Anselm’s assumption of what the universal definition of God is, where his fallacy lies. A fallacy is a flaw in reasoning that weakens the argument. Anselm exhibits a pre-determined conclusion that God exists through his definition of God, which is the foundation of his argument. Anselm’s contemporaries challenged his argument for the existence of God whereby Anselm further begged the question, adding characteristics to God’ s definition in order to keep his argument sound. Philosophers such as Immanuel Kant have since disputed Anselm’s definition of God, a definition we cannot hold. Medieval thinkers have long stated that God is everywhere and God is nowhere, and that God possesses all names yet he cannot be named. If we cannot arrive at a definition of God or conceptualize God, then Anselm’s argument can’t only be correct within his own definition and bias, but it cannot be widely applied as a prove for the existence of God. In theShow MoreRelatedRelationship Between Incarnation And Atonement Essay1671 Words   |  7 Pageshave spent their time discussing and developing these Christian doctrines on how they came about, and how relevant they might be. According to Anselm, incarnation is a central doctrine of Christianity, followed by atonement. 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