read the article here.

One of the wonderful things about teaching college was the opportunity (necessity) it afforded to re-read great works of literature, philosophy, and religion. Last Fall, I taught the first half of the History of Christianity survey, and assigned a number of works I hadn’t read in over ten years (The Rule of St. Benedict, for example). Among that group was Anselm’s Proslogion. In fact, I probably hadn’t read it in closer to twenty years.

It is a marvel, not primarily for the ontological argument, which leaves me unsatisfied. Rather, what I find most interesting is the style of writing: rigorous logic interspersed with effusive prayer. Anselm brought together reason and religious life in a way that is almost incomprehensible in the twenty-first century.