Anselm and Abelard: Investigations and Juxtapositions (review)

The sixteen papers in this volume (five of which are in German, two in French, and the rest in English) arise from a conference held in 2004 in Stuttgart on the thought and career of both Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) and Peter Abelard (c.1079-1142) and the wider aspects of intellectual change from the early eleventh century onwards. Comparisons by medievalists between these two figures are rare, no doubt because of the contrast in their method and legacy. Anselm's works arose from the inward reflection fostered by the solitude of the cloister. Abelard's writings, on the other hand, are products of the cut-and-thrust of the schools and his deliberate courting of controversy. This book, therefore, is a welcome and important contribution to the task of re-assessing the significance of Anselm in early medieval scholastic culture, particularly in the light cast by one of its most (in)famous exponents, Abelard.

A short foreword by the editors orients the reader in the 'intellectual sphere' which each figure inhabited, a time when the 'scrutiny and application of logical and linguistic analyses to questions of Christian doctrine' dominated (p. vii). The first eight contributions to Anselm and Abelard deal with Anselm. Most of these focus on the sola ratione method that he adopted in such works as the Cur Deus homo, by which he privileged ratiocination over authority. Toivo Holopainen suggests that, far from Lanfranc disapproving of this Anselmian methodology, he gave it 'virtual approval' (p. 13), and applied it himself in his disputes with Berengar over the explanation of the Eucharist. Exploring other personal networks of influence and learning, Rega Wood challenges recent scholarship suggesting that William Rufus in the thirteenth century rejected the argument in Anselm's Proslogion for the existence of God and the neoplatonic tradition. Similarly, Ian Logan explores the role of the little-known Thidricus in the production of Anselm's works; he does so by revisiting the crucial manuscript MS Bodley 271, regarded as the 'definitive' version (p. 67) of Anselm's works. Christian Brouwer concludes, from an analysis of this same manuscript, that Anselm intended his works to be read in a particular order, which sequence gave a rational unity to his corpus and thought as a whole. Thomas Bestul and Klaus Kienzler also analyse Anselm's method, the former suggesting that the impression of doctrinal certainty associated with that author conceals an atmosphere of 'anxiety, importunity, and turbulence' (p. 62) most vividly articulated in his works on prayers and meditations, but also redolent in his Monologion and Proslogion. Kienzler, on the other hand, traces the development of Anselm's theology into a 'science'. M. B. Pranger analyses the Cur Deus homo in terms of modern metaphysical debates concerning ideas of gift, specifically those of Jean-Luc Marion. Giles Gaspar also moves forward in time and ends the first part of the book with an examination of the reception of Anselm by the post-Reformation Church in England, focussing on Richard Church and Walter Dean; regrettably, that period's most influential voice, John Henry (later Cardinal) Newman had little to say on Anselm.

The second half of the volume explores the relationship between Anselm and Abelard. Several contributions here usefully compare their methodologies. Coloman Viola observes, for example, that Anselm's only and ultimate authority (auctoritas) was Scripture in which domain one need deploy reason (ratio), while for Abelard there existed a panoply of authorities, from the ancient philosophers to the Church Fathers to biblical commentators. As a result, Viola concludes that Anselm's 'theology' is devoid of scriptural exegesis, in contrast to Abelard's. Matthias Perkams extends this discussion of the philosophical-religious method shared by both thinkers, examining the concepts of rationes necessariae ('necessary reasons', i.e. reason) of Anselm and the rationes verisimiles et honestissimae ('most likely and respectable...