The Road to Canterbury

Let's imagine, for a moment, that God doesn't exist.

It's not that difficult - just close your eyes and imagine a world a complete existence without a creative-higher power. With nothing outside what you see in your mind or (if you open your eyes) in your room. Take everything at face value. You're a grand biological specimen placed in a complex environment shaped not by a creator, but by unfolding natural laws that flow along a path.

I assume you all have the capacity for this imagination.

St. Anselm lived during a really dark time. The medieval period is one not of science or religion, but of power. For the most part, people were Neanderthals when it came to medicine, astronomy, biology, ecology, and almost every other science. They also practiced a faith dictated by political power which, as we all know, isn't really faith. People were catholic because of what state they were born in, not because they felt incredibly inclined toward that particular expression of religion.

It is a time completely foreign to us. One we have trouble even relating to. At 1,000 years ago, the era is more fiction than history for us. We relate to it as being so long ago that the people in it might as well have been characters in a story book. This is due in large part to our own ignorance of the time, the lack of prolific writing during the period, and the abundance of fictional tales of kinds and knights. When I say that Anselm became Bishop of Canterbury under King William II, I might as well say that Batman was on the throne at the time.

Isn't it interesting to think that they were closer (chronologically) to Christ? If this time was so long ago that it appears cartoonish to us, unimaginable as a reality, can you even begin to comprehend 0 AD?

But Anselm had a fascinating life - raised religiously, he was steered away from the monestary life by his tyrant of a father until he fled his home and joined the ranks of the Bec Abbey where he was soon made Prior. Traveling to England, he became a successor for Lanfranc, the Arch Bishop of Canterbury. This position is the spiritual leader of all of England. Imagine waking up in the morning and putting on your vestments to lead an entire country toward salvation.

Anselm's not necessarily famous for his life as the Archbishop, although he did some interesting things (he was one of very few who opposed the crusades). He is famous for his argument. That's right. He has his own argument named after him - the Ontological Argument for God's Existence.

Imagine, for a moment, that God doesn't exist.

But what is God? By definition (widely accepted), God is a being that nothing greater can be conceived. In short - perfection.
And, can't we imagine that? Can't we imagine a being that is the greatest being? So God exists within the imagination, within the mind.
I'll reiterate that we're assuming God does not exist in reality.
But can't we imagine God existing in reality? Can't we imagine a world in which a being greater than all others exists?
Now, if an entity exists in reality and in human understanding, isn't that being greater than one that solely exists in the mind?
Thus, an entity can be imagined that is greater than God - a logical contradiction to God's definition.
Therefore, by showing a contradiction, our original claim that God does not exist must be false.

Basically, If God is the greatest of all things, and if it is greater to exist than to only be imaginable, then God exists.

That wasn't so hard. And God's existence is proven. Why are people still fighting over this one? Still not believing?

Well, it's been a fan favorite in philosophy courses for a long time. The interesting thing about it is that the argument itself is so simple, that it's difficult to refute. There's not much to it, so there's not much to attack. But something does feel wrong about it. Call it a gut instinct, but there's just something off about it.

Think about what's wrong with Anselm's argument. Can man prove God by reasoning? By logic?

Can we prove anything by pure logic?

Alright, you can go back to believing God exists. Or whatever you believe. I imagine there will be more on Anselm later - he's been on my mind lately. Pretty impressive feat for guy who's been dead for almost 10 centuries.