Anselm’s concept of God and the Bible
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2025-4-13-28
Abstract
The first chapters of Anselm of Canterbury’s “Proslogion” including his «ontological argument» are examined in this article not so much from the point of view of proving the existence of God, but from the point of view of the concept of God, which, as Anselm argues, necessarily contains a proof of the reality of its object. The author of the article focuses on the question of whether Anselm’s concept of God has a special philosophical origin, or whether it, undoubtedly correlating with philosophical thought, is in itself inherent to religious piety of a Christian in its primary form, which is expressed in the texts of the Bible. In order to solve the main task of this small study, a number of examples from the Bible are analyzed, which, in the opinion of the author of the article, contain variations of the understanding of God as that «than which nothing greater can be thought» and even that which «greater than can be thought». Examples are selected from the Psalter, the Book of Wisdom of Sirach, and the 2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians, with parallels from the Book of Job and other biblical texts. The author comes to the conclusion that the traditional biblical concept of God should not be deprived from its “metaphysicality|”, although its foreground remains to be the sacred “historicity”.
About the Author
I. S. Veviurko
Lomonosov Moscow State University; Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ilia S. Veviurko, Cand. of Sci (Philosophy)
27/4, Lomonosovsky Av., Moscow, 119234;
6/1, Likhov Lane, Moscow, 127051
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Review
For citations:
Veviurko I.S. Anselm’s concept of God and the Bible. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2025;(4):13-28. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2025-4-13-28
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