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Credo ut intelligam

Sentence of Anselm of Canterbury

Credo ut intelligam
Summary

Sentence of Anselm of Canterbury

Colorized portrait of Anselm of Canterbury.
Colorized portrait of Anselm of Canterbury.

Credo ut intelligam, alternatively spelled credo ut intellegam, is a Latin sentence of Anselm of Canterbury (Proslogion, 1). The sentence is a reference to Isaiah 7:9. The sentence translates as: "I believe so that I may understand".

In Anselm's writing, it is placed in juxtaposition to its converse, intellego ut credam ("I think so that I may believe"), when he says Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam ("I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand").

The phrase credo ut intelligam is often associated with Anselm's other famous phrase fides quaerens intellectum ("faith seeking understanding").

The phrase is based on a sentence of Augustine of Hippo (crede ut intellegas, "believe so that you may understand") to relate faith and reason. Augustine understood the saying to mean that a person must believe in something in order to know anything about God. This sentence by Augustine is also inspired from Isaiah 7:9.

References

References

  1. "Anselmus Cantuariensis - ''Proslogion'', 1". [[The Latin Library]].
  2. "Anselmus Cantuariensis - ''Proslogion'', ''Proemium''". The Latin Library.
  3. "Sermo 43, 7,9".
  4. Hütter, Reinhard. (2019). "Bound for Beatitude. A Thomistic Study in Eschatology and Ethics". [[Catholic University of America Press.
  5. Folsom, Marty. (2016). "Face to Face. Volume Three: Sharing God's Life". [[Wipf and Stock]].
  6. [[Ronald H. Nash. Nash, Ronald H.]], ''Faith and Reason'', p. 88.
  7. TeSelle, Eugene. "Crede ut intellegas".
Wikipedia Source

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latin-religious-words-and-phrases christian-philosophy latin-philosophical-phrases quotations-from-literature quotations-from-religion faith-in-christianity catholic-theology-and-doctrine
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