The Art of Equanimity: A Study on the Theological Hermeneutics of Saint Anselm of Canterbury

It is not a question of using either the palpable world or the intellect when trying to prove God's existence. Anselm apprehends being's very intelligibility as making it amenable to divine traces--that turn out to be God's « muted communication. Anselm practices in this sense « a blending of horizons--i.e. tradition (Plotinus, Augustine, Benedict). We human beings owe our own rationality to the same God who created the universe, us and our minds. The appreciation of a thus constituted reality unleashes a remarkable and refreshing fecundity (Mohler, Guardini, Barth, von Balthasar). Anselm seems to state: « Thinking--insofar as it is intelligible--is being. This makes Anselm's approach topical for our days. Increasingly the world consists of information and news. Truth claims are filtered from what is thought. Perhaps it is this Anselmic « reduction of reality to thought which opens a perspective for genuine emancipation and authentic humanization. The monastery afforded the proper ambience to live and apprehend this « reduction. Contents: Hermeneutics--Monastic Theology--Plotinus--Benedict--Faith and Reason--Soteriology--Faith and Thought--Johann Adam Mohler--Romano Guardini--Karl Barth--Hans Urs von Balthasar--Rationalism--Fideism.