Cur Deus Homo
Why God Became Man: a dialogue in two books between Anselm and his pupil Boso, arguing that the debt of human sin could be paid only by one who was both God and man. Begun in England and finished in exile.
The book is a dialogue. Boso, whom Anselm names as the one who pressed him hardest to write, puts the questions; Anselm answers. The preface says that it was begun in England “under great anguish of heart”, that part of it was copied before it was finished, and that it was completed in exile. It also states the method: the argument is to proceed as if nothing were known of Christ and to show by reasoning alone that no one could be saved without him.
Its argument is usually called the satisfaction account of the atonement. It is cited here for what Anselm argues, in his own words.
Cited in
- about 1078 to 1098, estimated date