In Anselm there is a constant theme of knowing and committing to the given principal before you may analyze and understand it. The whole first section is discussing how a Christian should be steadfast in his faith before he begins to undertake the "loftiest questions of faith". This is so that if the man raises a point that cannot be reconciled with the given principal, he will not lose faith in the principal and overall religion. Instead, the man is supposed to either presume he has reasoned wrong or lacks the necessary information to complete the puzzle because the concept is solid. This is such a contrast to today's times where if we believed in a concept wholeheartedly as a child or young Christian, but later we find misleading evidence or can't understand the concept completely, we abandon it or say it is nonsensical.
P.S commented on Sydni's.
I am excited you said this because as I read it caught my attention as well! In today's time we tend to get caught up in finding evidence and proving our point. Sometimes when we are new to the faith, we will tackle this huge question thinking we've got this; however, when the answer is either difficult to bear or to even find, many fall from faith which would only prove Anselm's point. We should grow in our faith before jumping into those hard questions and issues.
ReplyDeleteThis is true too because we will never fully understand God. If we approach everything in the faith by trying to find evidence for our belief, we will end up misled and hurt. We need to have a basis of belief so that we will have the faith to accept the things we can't fully understand.
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