A faith worth believing in

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10.9

Anselm lived at home until his mid twenties, before submitting himself to the rigours of monastic life. This is significant because it means that his formative years were spent in society. Thereafter he would have been stripped of his outward idiosyncrasies, so that his further development must have been internal. Still, he emerges as a remarkably integrated person with a wide and continuing influence. This is because, rather than allowing the restrictions of monastic disciple to drive him towards introspection, Anselm used the devotional exercises which punctuated his day to bless those around him - his fellow monks, his friends, even his enemies. His ultimate aim was to enjoy faith through understanding what he believed in and then sharing that experience with others that they - and we - might enjoy that faith too.

Out of his multifaceted legacy, Professor Porter commends three Anselm-ian practices to our own use. First, that we integrate prayer into our studies, so that we are not blindly acquiring knowledge but leaning on the Holy Spirit as our guide and interpreter. Second, that we develop the habit of understanding what we profess, so that we can believe through personal conviction and not just because somebody told us. Third, that we engage with others in our faith journey, so that we can learn from each other - as iron sharpens iron.