Top 30 Apologetics Books (#5): Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion
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Managing Editor
Quotable
Mrs. Frank L. Jones once wrote [C. S.] Lewis and asked, “What is a soul?,” to which he responded “What is a soul? I am. (This is the only possible answer: or expanded, ‘A soul is that which can say I am’).” And moving from the first- to third-person plural, Lewis wrote of “our souls, that is, ourselves.” One sometimes hears the query “Can you provide me with a positive characterization of a soul?” (A strictly negative characterization would be “A soul is not material; a soul is not visible; etc.”) Lewis would have responded: “A soul is that thing which thinks and reasons, chooses, experiences pleasure and pain, etc.” He believed it is important to stress that all these kinds of transitory events of which we are directly aware, namely, thoughts, reasonings, experiences of pleasure, etc., presuppose that the soul or “I” is “the stage” on which they appear, where this stage is substantial and endures through time:
Suppose that three sensations follow one another—first A, then B, then C. When this happens to you, you have the experience of passing through the process ABC. But note what this implies. It implies that there is something in you which stands sufficiently outside B to notice B now beginning and coming to fill the place which A has vacated; and something which recognizes itself as the same through the transition from A to B and B to C, so it can say “I have had the experience of ABC”. Now this something is what I call Consciousness or Soul . . . The simplest experience of ABC as a succession demands a soul which is not itself a mere succession of states, but rather a permanent bed along which these different portions of the stream of sensation roll, and which recognizes itself as the same beneath them all.
— Stewart Goetz, C. S. Lewis (Blackwell Great Minds)(Wiley Blackwell, 2018), 50. (citations omitted)
#5: Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion (1078)
Note: Below, Dr. Rob Bowman continues his series on the 30 most important apologetics books in church history. See his earlier posts in previous weeks of Useful Things.
Anselm (1033-1109), the bishop of Canterbury, was one of the most creative and original philosophers the Christian church has ever produced. He emphasized the side of Augustine’s view of faith and reason that viewed faith as prior to reason or understanding. “For I do not seek to understand in order to believe but I believe in order to understand [credo ut intelligam].” Although his philosophical arguments are often treated simply as rationalistic proofs designed to convince atheists, for him they were expressions of the search for understanding of one who already believed. On the other hand, he did intend at least some of his arguments as proofs to answer unbelievers and to confront them with the truth.
The most famous by far of these philosophical arguments has come to be known as the ontological argument, which Anselm developed in his book Proslogion (“Address”). The essence of the argument is that the notion of a being of unsurpassable greatness is logically inescapable. From the idea of “that than which nothing greater can be thought,” Anselm inferred the existence or being (Greek ontos, hence “ontological” argument) of God.
The argument has been interpreted in several markedly divergent ways. Frequently it has been treated as a rational proof of the existence of God, and as such it has usually (but not always) been rejected by both Christian and non-Christian philosophers. Some philosophers have taken it to prove that if there is a God, he must be a necessary being (that is, a being that must exist, that cannot not exist) rather than a contingent being (one that might or might not have existed). Others have argued that it proves that necessary existence must be acknowledged for some being, either for the cosmos itself or for a being transcendent to the cosmos. Anselm’s argument has enjoyed something of a revival in recent decades but remains perhaps the most controversial argument for God’s existence.
—Rob Bowman Jr. is an evangelical Christian apologist, biblical scholar, author, editor, and lecturer. He is the author of over sixty articles and author or co-author of thirteen books, including Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ, co-authored with J. Ed Komoszewski. He leads the Apologetics Book Club on Facebook.
News*
What Leana Wen’s Firing Reveals About Planned Parenthood
Canadian Anglicans to Continue Same-Sex Ceremonies, Even After Failed Vote
US Women’s Soccer and Our Culture of “Tolerance”
[“a professor who wishes to deliver a lecture [and] faces ‘security and safety risks’ is itself a scandalous violation of the principles by which these institutions stand or fall. The last time I thought of such risks at a university was under the martial law in communist Poland.”]
5 Facts about North Korea and its dictatorial regime
Why religion is not going away and science will not destroy it
Don’t Let Popular Culture Shape Your View of Reality
A Look at Messianic Prophecy: Who is the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15-18?
How J. P. Moreland Presented His Anxious Mind to God
(*The views and opinions expressed in the articles, videos, podcasts, and books linked to do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of The Worldview Bulletin.)
eBook Deals
Note: These deals were valid at the time this message was written, but prices may change without notice. The same deals are often available on Amazon sites in other countries.
This week only, get the latest two books in the excellent Cambridge Elements in the Philosophy of Religion series as free downloads. The two volumes are God and Human Freedom and God and Abstract Objects. Check this site on a regular basis as new volumes are freely available for a two-week period.
Eerdmans Publishing runs an ebook sale every month, and this month you can find deals on 30 titles. See the complete list here.
Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof - $1.99
The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl - $1.99
Loving God with Your Mind: Essays in Honor of J. P. Moreland, ed. by Paul Gould and Richard Brian Davis - $3.03
Miracles by C. S. Lewis - $2.99
Deliver Us From Evil by Ravi Zacharias - $2.99
WHAT IS MAN?: Adam, Alien or Ape? by Edgar Andrews - $3.99
Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths: Building Bridges to Faith Through Apologetics by Alister McGrath - $2.99
Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell - $3.99
The Creator Revealed: A Physicist Examines the Big Bang and the Bible by Michael G. Strauss - $3.03
Star Struck: Seeing the Creator in the Wonders of Our Cosmos by David Bradstreet and Steve Rabey - $2.99
Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God by John Kilner - $2.51
The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities by Darrell Bock - $0.99
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White - $1.89 (A standard reference book for writers, packed with good advice.)
Videos
Jesus-Shaped Cultures: The Historical Impact of the Gospel (Paul Copan)
The Political Theology of Abraham Kuyper
The Argument from Intentionality | Reasonable Faith Video Podcast
Certainty, Doubt, and Christian Faith (William Lane Craig)
“Where Do Our Values Come From?” | Ravi Zacharias
Can Science Explain Everything? | Troy Van Voorhis
Are We In A Post Truth Culture? | Abdu Murray
The Trinity: The Center of All Christian Thinking (Ken Samples)
Audio
Questions on the Virgin Birth, Bart Ehrman, and Dating the Gospels (Reasonable Faith)
Can Science Explain Everything? Featuring Dr. John Lennox (Cross Examined)
How Reason Can Lead To God (Apologetics.com) [a conversation between a scientist, Dr. Leslie Wickman and a philosopher, Dr. Joshua Rasmussen on how reason can lead to God.]
How the Smallest Born Baby Proves Abortion Is Wrong (Stand to Reason)
Jude 3 Project: An Interview with Lisa Fields (Apologetics Canada) [For today’s edition of the AC Podcast, Steve reached out to Lisa Fields of the Jude 3 Project which ministers primarily to the black community.]
God Is Stranger: a Christian and agnostic on the search for faith – Krish Kandiah and Tom Newman (Unbelievable? Radio Show)
Helpful Resources
Check out biblicaltraining.org where you can listen to course lectures presented by notable evangelical scholars, free of charge. See the full list of courses here. These are great for listening to while commuting, traveling, exercising, or doing house work. Among the 130 courses are 10 on worldview issues.
Check out the Library Extension, available for Firefox and Chrome. “As you browse books and e-books, the Library Extension can check your library's online catalog and display the availability of that item on the same page.”
Book Highlights
*Unless otherwise noted, descriptions are those provided by the publisher, sometimes edited for brevity.
This is the latest volume from our own Paul Copan.
What Would Jesus Really Eat: The Biblical Case for Eating Meat
Wes Jamison and Paul Copan, eds.
Until relatively recently, vegetarianism was a dietary alternative for Christians—a mere option or perhaps, for some, a conviction. But the biblical tradition recognized that a plant-based diet isn't more spiritual or moral than eating meat. Meat-eating is legitimate for humans; it is not prohibited and is even blessed by God.
A group of scholars have applied their expertise in biblical studies, theology, philosophy, resource management, communication, and generational pig farming to write an accessible response for Christians who rightly believe that meat-eating is a gift from God. This book responds to leading challenges from animal activism outside the church—offering important biblical and practical correctives to a growing but misguided compassion—and even to bullying within the church.
Contributors
Dr. Paul Copan: philosophy, ethics, theology (Palm Beach Atlantic University)
Dr. Wes Jamison: agricultural & resource politics; public relations (Palm Beach Atlantic University)
Dr. Walter Kaiser: Old Testament (emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
Dr. Tom St. Antoine: communication and rhetoric (Palm Beach Atlantic University)
Dr. Timothy Hsiao: philosophy, humanities (Grantham University)
Dr. Gordon Spronk: veterinary medicine, hog farming (Spronk Brothers III LLP)
Mr. Randy Spronk: hog farming (Spronk Brothers III LLP), corn & soybean farming (Ranger Farms LLP)
Available at Castle Quay Books and the Animal Agriculture Alliance.
There have been numerous books that interact with C. S. Lewis as an apologist, but very few have interacted with Lewis as a philosopher. Looking at seven different aspects of Lewis’s philosophical thinking, Christian philosopher Stewart Goetz unpacks Lewis’s thought and shows its application to past and present philosophical and theological issues. All of these issues relate to the Christian worldview and apologetics as well, so readers will find this deep dive into Lewis’s thought stimulating and helpful.
C. S. Lewis (Blackwell Great Minds)
Stewart Goetz
In this newest addition to the Blackwell Great Minds series, well-known philosopher and Lewis authority Stewart Goetz discusses Lewis’s philosophical thought and illustrates how it informs his theological and literary work. Drawing from Lewis’s published writing and private correspondence, including unpublished materials, C.S. Lewis is the first book to develop a cohesive and holistic understanding of Lewis as a philosopher.
In this groundbreaking project, Goetz explores how Lewis’s views on topics of lasting interest such as happiness, morality, the soul, human freedom, reason, and imagination shape his understanding of myth and his use of it in his own stories, establishing new connections between Lewis’s philosophical convictions and his wider body of published work.
Written in a scholarly yet accessible style, this short, engaging book makes a significant contribution to Lewis scholarship while remaining suitable for readers who have only read his stories, offering new insight into the intellectual life of this figure of enduring popular interest.
Stewart Goetz is Professor of Philosophy at Ursinus College, and is a visiting scholar at St. Peter's College, Oxford. He has published over 60 articles, chapters, and reviews in philosophy and philosophy of religion journals, and co-authored A Brief History of the Soul (Wiley Blackwell, 2011). He is the author of A Philosophical Walking Tour with C.S. Lewis (2014), and is co-editing the forthcoming Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion.
Free Download: Cultural Apologetics
Check out this free excerpt from Paul Gould’s new book Cultural Apologetics: Renewing the Christian Voice, Conscience, and Imagination in a Disenchanted World.
Cultural Apologetics sets forth a fresh model for cultural engagement, rooted in the biblical account of Paul's speech on Mars Hill, which details practical steps for reestablishing the Christian voice, conscience, and imagination.
With creative insights, Cultural Apologetics prepares readers to share a vision of the Christian faith that is both plausible and desirable, offering clarity for those who have become disoriented in the haze of modern Western culture.
Free Download: The Dictionary of Christianity and Science
If you haven’t already, download a free, 20-page excerpt of the Dictionary of Christianity and Science, edited by Paul Copan and Christopher Reese, along with Tremper Longman III and Michael Strauss.
The Dictionary features over 140 evangelical contributors and 450 entries on key concepts, theories, terms, movements, individuals, and debates in relation to Christianity and science.
Free Download: So The Next Generation Will Know
We interviewed Sean McDowell about his and J. Warner Wallace’s new book, So The Next Generation Will Know: Preparing Young Christians for a Challenging World, in the July issue.
McDowell and Wallace write to parents, youth workers, teachers, and others who want to help young people (especially elementary through high school students) develop their own confident faith—especially in light of the alarming statistics about how many young people walk away from Christianity in their high school and college years.
Enjoy this free excerpt from the book.
