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Anselm on divine justice and mercy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2018

WILLIAM E. MANN
WILLIAM E. MANN*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Vermont, 70 South Williams Street, Burlington, Vermont, 05401, USA
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines in detail chapters 8–11 of Anselm's Proslogion, in which he addresses the problem whether perfectly just God can consistently spare sinners who deserve eternal condemnation. The article argues that Anselm's discussion is framed by two doctrines that permeate the Proslogion: that God is the being than which none greater can be conceived and that God is ontologically simple. Anselm presents several principles about justice and mercy for consideration, some of which should be modified or rejected. The article offers a sympathetic construction of the perspectival solution he offers to the problem, but concludes that some important questions remain unanswered.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , December 2019 , pp. 469 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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