St. Anselm's Proslogion: With a Reply on Behalf of the Fool by Gaunilo and the Author's Reply ... Book

Read Thomas Williams's translation.

This is probably one of the greatest works of theology (not philosophy) I have read. How rich are his words! They drove me to tears -- O, how good it is to meditate on God and his wondrous riches.

"Surely [I am] both darkened in itself and dazzled by you. Indeed, [I am] both obscured by its own littleness and overwhelmed by your vastness.... What purity, what simplicity, what certainty and splendor are there! Truly [you are] more than any creature can understand" (§14)

"[The eye of the soul] is dazzled by its splendor, vanquished by its fullness, overwhelmed by its vastness, perplexed by its extent." (§16)

Those who read this merely philosophically make a categorical mistake. Proslogion/um is more properly prayer, not abstract philosophy done in the confines of a research university. It is not a work of apologetics (defending or proving a belief); rather, it is an exercise of contemplative prayer -- concluding with a plea for the Beatific Vision.

"O God, I pray that I will know and love you that I might rejoice in you....
O truthful God, I ask that I may receive, that my joy may be full.
Until then, let my mind ponder on it, my tongue speak of it.
Let my heart love it and my mouth proclaim it.
Let my soul hunger for it, my flesh thirst for it, my whole being long for it, until I 'enter into the joy of my Lord,' who is God, Three in One, 'blessed for ever. Amen.'" (§26)