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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Through ________ man suffers in misery.

2. Chapter seventeen reiterates what about God?

3. On Anselm's view, when we do not ______________ the concept of God, only then can we conceive of Him not existing.

4. Some being had to __________ being.

5. This ideal of goodness must be ____________ goodness.

Short Essay Questions

1. To what is God identical?

2. What does Chapter 5 argue?

3. What do Chapters 59 through 63 describe?

4. How is God a substance and also transcends substance?

5. How is God a substance? What does Anselm have to say about God as a substance?

6. What do Chapters 3 and 4 argue?

7. What set of problems does Chapter 9 of the Proslogium introduced? How does Chapter 10 add to this?

8. How does Anselm explain that God creates from nothing but that everything, in a sense, already exists?

9. How does Anselm begin the Proslogium?

10. What is learned about the Holy Spirit?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

God is perfectly just, yet He forgives sinners and has mercy on them.

Part 1) How does Anselm prove that God is perfectly just? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Part 2) Why does Anselm see a contradiction between being just and showing mercy? What does this reveal about him and his culture?

Part 3) How might this contradiction in God compare to gods of other cultures? How does this support Anselm's love of God?

Essay Topic 2

Anselm disputes Gaunilo's island example.

Part 1) What is Gaunilo's island example? Why does Anselm dispute it?

Part 2) Do you agree with Anselm or Gaunilo regarding the "lost island?" Why?

Part 3) What is the connection between Anselm's beliefs about Gaunilo's "lost island" and one's ability to conceive?

Essay Topic 3

St. Anselm believes only a fool would not believe in God.

Part 1) Why does he believe this? Does he support this belief with valid responses and hard evidence? Explain.

Part 2) Do you agree with Anselm? Why or why not? What does this belief reveal about Anselm?

Part 3) How might Anselm's upbringing and culture influence this belief?

(see the answer keys)

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