View source for Philosophy:Credo ut intelligam

{{Short description|Sentence of Anselm of Canterbury}}
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'''''Credo ut intelligam''''', alternatively spelled '''''credo ut intellegam''''', is a [[Social:Latin|Latin]] sentence of [[Biography:Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm of Canterbury]] (''[[Philosophy:Proslogion|Proslogion]]'', 1). The sentence is a reference to Isaiah 7:9.<ref name="TLL">{{cite web |title=Anselmus Cantuariensis - ''Proslogion'', 1 |url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/anselmproslogion.html+%22Neque+enim+quaero+intelligere+ut+credam,+sed+Credo+ut+intelligam%22 |accessdate=10 August 2019 |publisher=The Latin Library |language=la}}</ref> 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''<ref name="TLL" /><ref name="MF" /> ("I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand").<ref name="MF" />

The phrase ''credo ut intelligam'' is often associated with Anselm's other famous phrase ''[[Philosophy:Fides quaerens intellectum|fides quaerens intellectum]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Anselmus Cantuariensis - ''Proslogion'', ''Proemium'' |url=https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/anselmproslogion.html |accessdate=10 August 2019 |publisher=The Latin Library |language=la}}</ref><ref name="MF" /> ("faith seeking understanding").<ref name="MF" /> 

The phrase is based on a sentence of [[Biography:Augustine of Hippo|Augustine of Hippo]] ('''''crede ut intellegas''''',<ref>{{cite web |title=Sermo 43, 7,9 |url=https://www.augustinus.it/latino/discorsi/discorso_054_testo.htm |accessdate=21 October 2020 |language=la}}</ref> {{literal translation|lk=yes}} "believe so that you may understand")<ref>{{cite book |last=Hütter |first=Reinhard |title=Bound for Beatitude. A Thomistic Study in Eschatology and Ethics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wr-VDwAAQBAJ |year=2019 |publisher=CUA Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-81323181-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wr-VDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Tractates+on+the+Gospel+of+John%22+(29.6),+Augustine+%22Believe+so+that+you+may+understand%22&pg=PA196 196]}}</ref><ref name="MF">{{cite book |last=Folsom |first=Marty |title=Face to Face. Volume Three: Sharing God's Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwIdDQAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock |location=Eugene, Oregon |isbn=978-1-49820761-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hwIdDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22I+do+not+seek+to+understand+in+order+that+I+may+believe,+but+rather,+I+believe+in+order+that+I+may+understand%22%22Neque+enim+quaero+intelligere+ut+credam,+sed+credo+ut+intelligam%22%22faith+seeking+understanding%22%22fides+quaerens%22&pg=PA61 61]}}</ref> 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.<ref>[[Biography:Ronald H. Nash|Nash, Ronald H.]], ''Faith and Reason'', p. 88.</ref> This sentence by Augustine is also inspired from Isaiah 7:9.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TeSelle |first=Eugene |date= |title=Crede ut intellegas |url=https://www.augustinus.de/bwo/dcms/sites/bistum/stellen/4/228/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515230818/https://www.augustinus.de/bwo/dcms/sites/bistum/stellen/4/228/ |archive-date=2023-05-15 |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Zentrum für Augustinus-Forschung}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Religion:Apophatic theology#The via eminentiae|Apophatic theology § The ''via eminentiae'']]
*''[[Philosophy:Credo quia absurdum|Credo quia absurdum]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}



[[Category:Christian philosophy]]
[[Category:Latin philosophical phrases]]

{{Sourceattribution|Credo ut intelligam}}