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Two thinkers, side by side

Life

354 CE – 430 CE

MedievalPatristic

He stole pears as a boy and never forgave himself. His restless search for truth took him through every philosophy before it brought him to God.

Anselm

1033 CE – 1109 CE

MedievalScholastic

God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived. From this single idea he built the most famous proof of God's existence.

Connection

Augustine theological foundation Anselm — Anselm built on Augustine's fusion of faith and reason, developing the ontological argument from Augustinian premises.

Shared Ideas

Faith & Reason

Ideas

Faith & Reason On the Shortness of Life

Faith & Reason Being

Words

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
— Augustine

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”
— Augustine

“I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand.”
— Anselm

Key Moments

354 CE

Born in Thagaste

386 CE

Conversion in Milan

396 CE

Becomes Bishop of Hippo

c. 397 CE

Writes the Confessions

1033 CE

Born in Aosta

c. 1078 CE

The Ontological Argument

1093 CE

Becomes Archbishop of Canterbury

1109 CE

Death at Canterbury

Works

Confessions

The City of God

Proslogion