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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Cur Deus Homo mean "Why God Became Man" in Latin, and that is what the books is about. A through provoking philosophical and theological book that should be read by anyone interesting in either.
For me, this might be right below The Consolation of Philosophy on my “Christian theology greatest hits” album.
This book is so often dismissed because of portrayals such as it being “outdated,” “overly-western,” “legal,” “medieval,” etc. I am convinced that anyone who believes in these descriptions will be confounded by simply reading the whole book. Anselm makes a powerful case in explaining Jesus’ atonement for us by combining philosophy from all ages. He is NOT simply a mouthpiece for medieval feudalism as many introductory lectures and textbooks like to claim.
His argument is roughly as follows
- Humans desire life, love, and happiness
-We recognize that these things are transcendent - they cannot be fully satisfied by this world (hence, CS Lewis’ argument)
-God must be the source of this life, love, and happiness
-We ought to give ourselves back to God who gave us everything, this is the source and reason for true happiness
-PROBLEM: we have sinned and are unable to give ourselves fully to God, thus we are miserable
-SOLUTION: by God’s grace, Jesus is the “perfect repenter, as CS Lewis says, who has eternally and perfectly offered himself to God the Father
-we can be unified with Jesus Christ into his atoning life, death, and resurrection
-this restores our perfect joy and union with God
-God COULD have merely “forgiven” our sins without the Incarnation, but this would have left us in our sin and given us no DIGNITY AND HAPPINESS in offering ourselves personally to God.
-Thus, Christ’s incarnation was necessary because it was the only way to reconcile us back to God AND fulfill our happiness by allowing us to join with Jesus and offer ourselves as living sacrifices—giving God back what he gave us is the only way to real happiness.
The book ends in praise to God in one of my favorite quotes. The dialogue conversant responds to Anselm’s articulation to the gospel by saying,
“The universe can hear of nothing more reasonable, more sweet, more desirable. And I receive such confidence from this that I cannot describe the joy with which my heart exults. For it seems to me that God can reject none who come to him in his name.”
This book is so often dismissed because of portrayals such as it being “outdated,” “overly-western,” “legal,” “medieval,” etc. I am convinced that anyone who believes in these descriptions will be confounded by simply reading the whole book. Anselm makes a powerful case in explaining Jesus’ atonement for us by combining philosophy from all ages. He is NOT simply a mouthpiece for medieval feudalism as many introductory lectures and textbooks like to claim.
His argument is roughly as follows
- Humans desire life, love, and happiness
-We recognize that these things are transcendent - they cannot be fully satisfied by this world (hence, CS Lewis’ argument)
-God must be the source of this life, love, and happiness
-We ought to give ourselves back to God who gave us everything, this is the source and reason for true happiness
-PROBLEM: we have sinned and are unable to give ourselves fully to God, thus we are miserable
-SOLUTION: by God’s grace, Jesus is the “perfect repenter, as CS Lewis says, who has eternally and perfectly offered himself to God the Father
-we can be unified with Jesus Christ into his atoning life, death, and resurrection
-this restores our perfect joy and union with God
-God COULD have merely “forgiven” our sins without the Incarnation, but this would have left us in our sin and given us no DIGNITY AND HAPPINESS in offering ourselves personally to God.
-Thus, Christ’s incarnation was necessary because it was the only way to reconcile us back to God AND fulfill our happiness by allowing us to join with Jesus and offer ourselves as living sacrifices—giving God back what he gave us is the only way to real happiness.
The book ends in praise to God in one of my favorite quotes. The dialogue conversant responds to Anselm’s articulation to the gospel by saying,
“The universe can hear of nothing more reasonable, more sweet, more desirable. And I receive such confidence from this that I cannot describe the joy with which my heart exults. For it seems to me that God can reject none who come to him in his name.”
Blew my mind. I'll need to read it again -- and read it much more closely -- before I make a comprehensive opinion.