Cur Deus Homo

Amen.

End of section 11 End of Cur Deus Homo by Anselm of Canterbury Translated by Edward S. Prout

And nobody could doubt the devotion of Bernard... to the Blessed Virgin, but he rejected the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM.

In Cur Deus Homo 216, why the God-man is what that means, Anselm wrote, and I quote, "...for although the conception of this man," speaking of Christ, "...was free from the sin of carnal delight, nevertheless the Virgin, from whom he was assumed, was conceived in iniquities." And her mother conceived her in sins.

And this virgin was born with original sins since she sinned in Adam in whom all have sinned.

That's good Augustinian theology, right? Anti-Pelagian theology.

Dumb.

I was trying to find a more polite way to put this.

And I don't want to discourage you from reading people like Anselm, like reading the Cur Deus Homo, Why the God-Man, and other things that he wrote, because he's very good.

And even Aquinas, as much as we may disagree with Aquinas on some things, you shouldn't let their mistakes put you off from reading them and learning from them.

During his first exile, he settled at a Benedictine monastery near Paris, where the Latin world was still bustling with scholarly debate.

It was there that he polished the Cur Deus Homo, a short dialogue defending the idea of divine manhood.

But more importantly for our story, he wrote a series of letters to his fellow clerics, urging them to uphold canonical law against royal overreach.

Even while away from Canterbury, Anselm remained at the heart of England's spiritual crisis.

The fun starts here.

Section one of Cur Deus Homo by Anselm of Canterbury, translated by Edward S. Prout.

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For I should have inserted and added many things on which I have said nothing if I had been allowed to publish it in quiet and at a suitable time.

For it was in great tribulation of heart which I suffered, the source and reasons of which God knows, that when asked, I began the work in England and finished it when an exile in the province of Capua.

I have named it after the subject on which it was published, Cur Deus Homo, and I have divided it into two short books.

The first of these contains the objections of unbelievers who reject the Christian faith because they think it contrary to reason and the answers of believers.

The honor taken away must be repaid or punishment must follow.

He wrote in Cur Deus Homo—that was just the name of his writing— Otherwise, God will not be just to himself.

Sin became an unpaid invoice.

The cross became the payment.

Section

4 of Cur Deus Homo by Anselm of Canterbury, translated by Edward S. Prout.

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But if what we think we have discovered by reason is confirmed by the testimony of the truth, we ought to attribute this not to ourselves, but to God, who is blessed for ever.

Amen.

End of section 11 End of Cur Deus Homo by Anselm of Canterbury Translated by Edward S.

Prout

One book produced in this age should also be mentioned.

The Cur Deus Homo, or Wherefore God Became Man, of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of William Rufus, a most remarkable book on the atonement of Christ to have been produced at such a time.

But we must keep close to our inquiry.

Where did the Christianity come from whose doctrines Anselm sought to expound, for which the Valdois suffered, and which has found a register of its existence in the Doomsday Books? The bishops and priests mentioned in these books were teaching the English people, and the English people believed that Jesus of Nazareth had lived on this earth, taught his great doctrines, wrought his miracles, was crucified, and rose again from the dead.