Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)

"Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works" from Oxford World's Classics (1998), is one of the most comprehensive English-language collections of the medieval theologian's writings, (See below for two other large collections) At the current price (in September 2012) for the Kindle edition, it is also a fantastic bargain (only slightly higher than some repackaging of older, smaller, or less reliable, collections as Kindle books)Better still, the translators variously responsible for the individual works have given us exceptionally readable versions of his often strikingly original, if sometimes rather repetitive, expositions of central Christian doctrines. The World's Classics volume contains fourteen works by Anselm, and a response to one of his most important writings, which he had asked be included with it when it was copied (along with his own reply, of course). There is a good general introduction, an excellent index (unfortunately not linked in the Kindle edition) and some useful, but minimal, notes. Except for the difficult De Grammatico (on language and logic), there are no headnotes to the individual works. The Select Bibliography is confined to books, but does point out which of them have extensive bibliographies, tacitly acknowledging the large literature in academic journals (aimed at theologians, philosophers, and medievalists).Personally, I have found Anselm one of the most engaging of medieval Christian theologians, and of Christian theologians in general, although I read his works out of curiosity, rather than as part of my personal religious experience.St. Anselm "of Canterbury" (1033-1109) was born to a noble family in Aosta (in what are now the Italian Alps), became a student, monk, teacher, and abbot at the Norman monastery of Bec, and, more than reluctantly, Archbishop of Canterbury in the reigns of William Rufus and Henry I. (Part of a larger pattern of putting clerics from Normandy into key positions, replacing the Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical hierarchy; Anselm was in his thirties when William of Normandy was conquering England.)Politically, Anselm is most noted for his (almost accidental) involvement in the Investiture Controversy between the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire, and assorted kingdoms -- a topic which is immediately familiar to students of Church History and of the Middle Ages, and probably not to many others. He also took part in the Council of Bari, an attempt to re-unite the Greek, Orthodox, and Latin, Catholic, Churches. (It failed.)Religiously, Anselm is most famous for the "Proslogion," with its so-called "Ontological Proof of the Existence of God" (which he himself may not have regarded as a proof, but as expression of faith), and for a then-new soteriology (theory of salvation) in the two-part treatise "Cur Deus Homo" (Why God became Man).For the theologically-minded out there, in the latter work he replaced the then-popular Ransom theory of the Crucifixion with the Satisfaction theory -- although the former is still alive, not only, for its narrative possibilities, in C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia," but also as sound doctrine in some preaching I've heard. (Then again, I've heard echoes of several classic heresies in popular sermons, as well.) Either one would need more space to expound than I have here.Within the bounds of orthodoxy -- largely as defined by St. Augustine of Hippo ("The City of God," etc.) -- Anselm was a startlingly original thinker. For example, he produced an extended consideration of the Fall, not of Man, but of Satan, in "De Casu Diaboli," "The Fall of the Devil". This is a topic many people probably assume is "somewhere in the Bible," but isn't. For Anselm, Satan's proper desire to "be like God" in accordance with his own proper nature became a desire to simply "be like God." (Remember the serpent's temptation of Eve?) Echoes of Anselm seem to me to be heard in Satan's self-justification passages in Milton's "Paradise Lost," among other places.Anselm's prose style, although much less intimidating than, say, the endless quotations of authority by his contemporaries, or the syllogisms and demonstrations of the Scholastics who followed him, is sometimes rather heavy. Some point out that Anselm had learned from experience that anything not said as explicitly and as often as possible would give rise to confusions, including accusations of heresy from the easily-alarmed or simply malicious. On the other hand, given his years as a teacher, he may have been following the dictum I learned from my mother: "Tell them what you are going to teach them, teach them, and then tell them what you taught them."As hinted above, there are other extensive collections in print. Slightly fuller is "The Complete Philosophical and Theological Treatises of Anselm of Canterbury," translated by Jasper Hopkins and Herbert Richardson. At this writing, it is still offered by Amazon at, by present-day standards, a remarkably low price for a 574-page academic hardcover. [Note: this is no longer true.] It includes some philosophically interesting "Meditations," but otherwise the contents fully overlap with the World's Classics volume. Published in this form in 2000, it was put together from work done over several decades, and published in other places. Somewhat revised versions of its contents are available, along with articles and bibliographies, as individual PDF files on Jasper Hopkins' website (along with translations of major works by Nicholas of Cusa [1401-1464], Hugh of Balma, and Hugo of Strassburg).I don't find most of the Hopkins-Richardson Anselm translations quite as readable as their counterparts in the Oxford World's Classics volume, but they are more than worth the time of anyone puzzled by passages in other translations (and vice-versa, of course). And the additional material, although not systematic in presentation, is helpful.Another recent collection, "Anselm: Basic Writing," translated by Thomas Williams (Hackett, 2007), contains a dozen well-chosen pieces; since I have not read the volume, I pass this along as a point of information. Hackett is a reliable publisher of philosophy, so it seems a fair guess that the translation is sound, and a glossary of terms looks helpful -- but I have no idea of how readable it is.

There are numerous English translations and Latin originals of Anselm of Canterbury's major theological and philosophical works available for general reader consumption. However, this newest addition to the already-multitudinous amount of editions allows easy access to all the important writings Anselm produced in his career. In order to fully grasp the convenience of having the works of Anselm easily available to the English reader in one place, it must be pointed out that (to my knowledge) there is not a single volume that brings all his works together, like "Monologion", "Proslogion", "Cur Deus Homo" (don't let the Latin titles scare you; it's all in English), or some of his lesser known writings such as "On Truth", "On the Fall of the Devil", and "On the Procession of the Holy Spirit", and more. Those interested in reading the full spectrum of Anselm's thought have usually been compelled to look for multiple volumes, since a single publication may only contain one or two of the most important of Anselm's works. But now there is a single text (i.e., this one) that enables readers to look at one compendium for Anselm's theological and philosophical speculations in good English translation.Perhaps a plus in the volume is the fact that two excellent scholars, G.R. Evans and Brian Davies, OP, co-edited the compilation of these works into the volume published by Oxford University Press. G.R. Evans lectures and researches at Oxford University, and is well known for work in Medieval Christian philosophy and theology. Brian Davies earned his Ph.D. from King's College in London, and is a reputable expert on Medieval philosophy; he works at Fordham University in New York. Both are very capable and rigorous academians, having equally contributed to the very informative (but not longwinded) introduction to the life of Anselm and the basic content and arguments in his individual works included in this monograph. Similarly, they have included notes on different translations and the original Latin text of Anselm to help the reader and/or scholar.Oxford World's Classics' "Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works" is a fitting addition to any private or public theological, philosophical, patristics, medieval, or British history library. Instructors of college or graduate-level courses on theology, philosophy, medieval studies, or Anselmian studies would greatly benefit from assigning this text in their courses; it is a fairly inexpensive volume (especially in its paperback edition), but allows students to handle the works of Anselm from one source instead of requiring them to seek them out among a vast amount of translations and publications.

Oxford has included all you need to appreciate the great thinker. I bought it for the Monologion, Proslogion, and Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), but there are other insightful works as well. Anselm’s thought is thorough, and the translation greatly helped. Best to be read slowly and meditatively!

Sometimes I wonder if the price was real for such a book. Thanks to the author and thanks to technology. I read a lot about Anselm’s books but now reading the books themselves in one volume. The translation is easy to read and understand. I have recommended it to my class.

I bought this to read St. Anselm's treatise "Cur Deus Homo" (Why God Became Man) on the recommendation of Fr. Lucas, of the St. John Society. I enjoyed his clear and concise style so much that I quickly went on to read "On the Virgin Conception and Original Sin", followed by On the Procession of the Holy Spirit". I intend to return to this volume as time permits and read his other treatises. Anselm obviously a scholar, with a facile and questioning mind!

I did not realize that I already have a copy of this in my private library, but now I can put the other in the church garage sale just to see if there are any readers of theology lurking in the recesses of the city.

An excellent translation and presentation of one of the most influential but oft-forgotten minds in medieval philosophy and theology. Containing the origins of some of the most fundamental arguments in philosophy (not the least of which is the ontological argument of the Proslogion), Anslem is necessary reading for any student of philosophy and theology.

fabulous reading of a very important genre of literature from a very important time in our history and world development

Quality book. Paper back but the front is thick enough that you know it will last

A good book to read.

Have had kindle account for years These books do not appear on my kindle account

This is a full edition of St Anselm's writings, but the main texts are the Proslogion, that first gave us the 'ontological argument' for the existence of God and the 'Cur Deus Homo', or 'Why God became Man'.The Proslogion starts with the words of scripture 'The fool says in his heart there is no God' and asks why this is foolish. Anselm's reply is that the idea of God is of the most perfect being and such a being would not be perfect if it were non-existent. In other words, someone who thinks of God as non-existent is not really thinking of God at all. This gave rise to Gaunilo's reply that you could say the same thing about a perfect island and Kant's objection in The Critique of Pure Reason that 'existence is not a predicate' with the famous example of the imaginary $100. Hegel replied in his Lectures on the Proofs of the Existence of God that dollars and islands are finite and so we know from the start that they are the sort of things that might or might not be there, but supposing this about God prejudges the question at issue.Less well known, but as interesting is the 'Cur Deus Homo'. This argues that man's salvation cannot be a work of man, for sin has made him incapable of saving himself by his works, so the salvation of man must be an act of God, but also an act of Man. Hence the Incarnation and Atonement of Christ follow from God's mercy. These to me are the highlights of the book and I would have been happy with a Oxford World Classics edition of just those, perhaps with the debate with Gaunilo as an appendix. Anselm was a major religious thinker and goes a long way to give an intellectual basis to the Gospel and to religion generally.

Excellent