Interpreting Anselm's thought about divine justice: dealing with loose ends

Over the last fifty years studies of Anselm of Canterbury's concept of divine justice have delivered different results. The aim of this article is to present the results of a new comprehensive inquiry, based on the interpretation of key passages about justice in Anselm's theological works....

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vreeswijk, Bernard J. D. van (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2016]
In: Scottish journal of theology
Year: 2016, Volume: 69, Issue: 4, Pages: 417-431
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Anselm, Canterbury, Erzbischof, Heiliger 1033-1109 / Justice of God
IxTheo Classification:KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KDB Roman Catholic Church
NBC Doctrine of God
NCA Ethics
Further subjects:B Justice
B Anselm of Canterbury
B De Veritate
B Proslogion
B Cur Deus Homo
B Mercy
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Over the last fifty years studies of Anselm of Canterbury's concept of divine justice have delivered different results. The aim of this article is to present the results of a new comprehensive inquiry, based on the interpretation of key passages about justice in Anselm's theological works. The article argues that Anselm works with three definitions of God's justice. The first is the most traditional: God's justice is his right dealing with good and bad. The second definition follows the Anselmian concept of God: God's justice is his acting according to his being that than which nothing greater can be conceived. The third definition is God's rightness of will, preserved for its own sake. The article concludes that the attempt to show how these three definitions are related to each other brings to light tensions and loose ends in Anselm's works.
ISSN:1475-3065
Contains:Enthalten in: Scottish journal of theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0036930616000399