This Week in Christian History: Santa Claus, Paradise Lost, An Archbishop Consecrated

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 03, 2017

Anselm Consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury - December 4, 1093

A late-16th century line engraving of Saint Anselm of Canterbury (circa 1033 - 1109). | (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

This week marks the anniversary of when Medieval intellectual Saint Anselm was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury.

A native of Italy, Anselm was already an influential monk when he agreed to fill the church position that had been vacant since 1089.

"Anselm was one of the most important Christian thinkers of the eleventh century. He is most famous in philosophy for having discovered and articulated the so-called 'ontological argument;' and in theology for his doctrine of the atonement," noted the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

"However, his work extends to many other important philosophical and theological matters, among which are: understanding the aspects and the unity of the divine nature; the extent of our possible knowledge and understanding of the divine nature; the complex nature of the will and its involvement in free choice; the interworkings of human willing and action and divine grace; the natures of truth and justice; the natures and origins of virtues and vices; the nature of evil as negation or privation; and the condition and implications of original sin."