The Feast Of Anselm Of Canterbury

I can't recall if this is Earth Day or Secretaries' Day. It may be neither; it may be both. It may, for all I know, be Earth Secretaries's Day. Or "Keep your secretary green Day" or "Make your secretary mow your lawn Day" or something equally obtuse.

I do know that today is the Feast of Anselm, and that's much more important to me and to the development of our faith than any other, er, "holiday".

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury and one of the most profound thinkers of the Middle Ages, died on this day in 1109, around the age of 76. He is considered the third greatest theologian of Western Christianity, alongside Augustine and Aquinas.

Anselm attained this status for his argument that faith is the precondition of knowledge (credo ut intelligam), for his "satisfaction theory" of the atonement ("No one but one who is God-made-Man can make the satisfaction by which Man is saved") and for his ontological argument for God's existence.

The latter simply recognizes that, if there is no God, there could be no rational discussion of God's existence. In other words, one cannot make an argument that dismisses the existence of something that doesn't exist.

In addition to his academic work, Anselm was also politically important in seeing that the English church played a greater role in its society and served as one of the checks on the power of the king.

Almighty God, you raised up your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy: Provide your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.