''Fides quaerens intellectum'' means "faith seeking understanding" or "faith seeking intelligence". It is the

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

method stressed by

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

(354–430) and

Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of ...

( – 1109) in which one begins with

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

in God and on the basis of that faith moves on to further understanding of Christian truth. Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 104 Anselm uses this expression for the first time in his

Proslogion The ''Proslogion'' () is a prayer (or meditation), written by the medieval cleric Saint Anselm of Canterbury in 1077–1078, serving to reflect on the attributes of God in order to explain how God can possess seemingly contradictory qualities. T ...

(II–IV). It articulates the close relationship between faith and

human reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, langu ...

. This is the key to Anselm's theological thought and

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Som ...

thinking. He would understand all things in faith. It means to understand intellectually what we already believe. Chronologically, faith precedes understanding, like when small children first trust their parents and believe what they state, and it is only later on, when they grow up, that they want to examine and understand the reality by themselves. In the words of Anselm of Canterbury : "Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam" ("I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand").

References

: ''« Fides quaerens intellectum » ; La preuve de l'existence de Dieu d'après Anselme de Cantorbéry'', Delachaux et Niestlé (Bibliothèque de Théologie), Neuchâtel et Paris, 1958, 160 p. (cours donné à Bâle, en allemand en 1930). *Marilyn McCord Adams : ''« Fides Quaerens Intellectum »; St. Anselm’s Method In Philosophical Theology'', dans ''Faith and Philosophy'', vol. 9 (1992), 4. *Julien Bayart : ''The Concept of Mystery According to St. Anselm of Canterbury'', dans ''Recherches de Théologie ancienne et médiévale'', vol. 9 (1937). *Michel Corbin : ''La significations de l’unum argumentum du Proslogion'', dans ''Anselm Studies'', vol. 2 (1988). *

Étienne Gilson Étienne Henri Gilson (; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition ...

: ''Sens et nature de l’argument de saint Anselme'', dans '' Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age'', vol. 9 (1934). *Alvin Plantinga : ''The Ontological Argument, from St. Anselm to Contemporary Philosophers'', Garden City, New York, Anchor Books, 1965. *Katherine Rogers : ''Can Christianity be Proven? Saint Anselm on Faith and Reason'', dans ''Anselm Studies'', vol. 2 (1998). Latin religious words and phrases Philosophical phrases Christian terminology Quotations from philosophy Quotations from literature Faith in Christianity Augustine of Hippo {{Latin-vocab-stub

See also

References

Further reading