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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Atonement (7) One might suppose that this Boso was a literary creation, and imaginary figure introduced by Anselm to give occasion for his own opinions, especially as the initials of the two men happen to be A and B, very convenient for a dialogue form. But R.W. Southern, in "Saint Anselm: a Portrait in a Landscape" has shown that there really was a Boso, and that he was Anselm's ablest pupil. Moreover, Anselm was not the first to write a book entitled "Cur Deus Homo." A book with the same title had appeared from the pen of Ralph of Laon, setting forth the traditional view of the Atonement in very much the terms Boso cites. Now Boso had studied at Laon, where he had doubtless encountered the views of Ralph and fond them unconvincing. Knowledge of these facts contributes in four ways to our understanding of the intellectual life of the period: 1. It introduces us to Boso, a minor figure to be sure, but one who was acute enough to see the weakness in a theory of the Atonement which had held sway for a thousand years. 2. It reveals something of Anselm's 'modus operandi': he evidently engaged in a real meeting of minds with his pupils, attempted to answer their questions, and fond his own thought stimlated in the process. 3. It gives us a view of the school of Laon which corroborates that of Abelard. Abelard studied at the school of Laon but dismissed it contemptuously as having nothing to teach him. This has been seen as evidence of Abelard's arrogance, since many other students seem to have found Laon helpful. But nobody ever called Boso arrogant, and if he found the doctrine at Laon unsatisfactory, perhaps it really was unsatisfactory. 4. Following on from the last point, it may encourage us to take a more sympathetic view of Abelard, whose opinion in the matter receives corroboration from an independent source. Anselm proposed a radically new solution to the problem of the Atonement. Put briefly, it was that sin, being an infinite offence against God, required a satisfaction equally infinite. As no finite being, man or angel, could offer such satisfaction, it was necessary that an infinite being, namely God himself, the only available infinite being, should take the place of man and, by his death, make complete satisfaction to Divine justice. Hence the death of Christ was not a ransom paid to the devil but a debt paid to the Father. There's more to it than that, as we shall see. Bill. ===== ____________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html