From Augustine to Anselm

the long version

Anselm (1033-1109) described the 'Monologion', his first major theological work, as a model meditation on the divine essence; and he enjoined his potential critics to read Augustine's De trinitate diligently and then judge the 'Monologion'by it. In following Anselm's admonition, I have paid particular attention to Anselm's claims about the persuasiveness of his arguments, and probed the cogency of some of the many arguments that make up the 'Monologion'. The result is something like a critical companion to the 'Monologion'. It is not meant to replace an actual reading of the 'Monologion', which is an experience worth having, since no interpretation or paraphrase can capture the feeling of wading through Anselm's analytic arguments. And I have resisted the common tendency of reading the 'Monologion'merely as a prelude to its more evocative sequel, the 'Proslogion'.