Why Belief Cannot Exist Without Reason
Seventh Day from Anselm of Canterbury (Twelve Days of Christmas Gift Series)
As we arrive at Day 7 in the 12 Gifts of Christian Theology, we meet Anselm of Canterbury, a man who refused to believe that faith meant switching the mind off.
Anselm did some of his most important thinking while being pushed out of his own job. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he clashed with kings over whether the Church should obey political power. More than once, he was forced into exile. Instead of hardening into anger or retreating into silence, Anselm wrote, thought, prayed, and he kept asking whether faith could survive honest questioning.
What Anselm discovered was straightforward but unsettling: belief does not cancel the need to think. He believed God gave humans reason on purpose, not as a mistake to be suppressed. For Anselm, faith came first, but it was never meant to stay shallow. He wanted belief to grow roots. That is why he argued carefully, step by step, even when writing about God. He was not trying to prove faith to skeptics. He was trying to understand what he already believed.
