Saint Anselm of Canterbury is an outstanding theologian and Christian philosopher of the eleventh century. While he is widely known for the ontological argument on God’s existence, he has also made significant contributions to philosophical theology.  In his teachings, Anselm attempts to determine whether the fall of Devil was God’s fault. In chapter eleven, Anselm infers that evil is a privation of good deeds.  Rather than defining evil as a thing, he terms it as an absence of something implying that God did not create it.

In chapter nine, Anselm states “injustice is the very evil we claim is nothing other than a privation of good.” The argument creates the view that God does not create or cause evil, but Anselm notes that God may fail to prevent evil from occurring.  The question of whether the falls of the Devil is God’s fault can be addressed by determining the source of everything.  Making references to Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians indicates that Christians have nothing except what God gives them.

Both rational reflection and the Scripture indicate that God’s punishes wrong doors which can be deemed as being unjust.  The argument that God has power over human beings implies that it is unjust to punish wrongdoers when God is behind bad and good choices. Anselm explains that God tends to withhold his goodness from people prompting them to commit evil.  Paul’s teachings infer that God bears the responsibility of both evil and good.

In both the Proslogion and Monologion, there is the assertion by Anselm that God is the ultimate source of all human beings wants.  Additionally, Chapter five of Anselm work The Truth explains that everything is the way it is because of God’s plans. It means that nothing can be different without the supreme authority from God.  From a philosophical lens, God appears to be both final and supreme and controls everything.

In offering insights to the fall of the devil, Anselm introduces both freedoms and will as being essential elements in salvation. He defines freedom as being the ability to make choices and pursue one’s interest. According to the doctrine of the fall, human beings are viewed as being damaged and in need of repair. God’s restoration thus does not warrant humanbeings to boast. The process of repairing and restoring damaged people is defined as God’s grace. Anselm explains that there is a messy relationship between freedom and grace.

Unlike human beings, angels are defined as being in their pristine condition. The fall of devil is not thus restricted to just God’s grace but also concerns primal choice. The pristine nature of the angels can be linked to the primal decision to remain good and remain obedient to God.  The argument can also be applied to the devil where he would not have fallen had he preserved rectitude. The preservation of rectitude implies that the Devil would have remained just and obedient to God.

However, this also raises the question of whether it was God’s fault for failing to give the devil perseverance that would have helped uphold rectitude. Some of the philosophical arguments that attempt to answer this questionare that perseverance may not have been given, or the devil rejected it. Anselm indicates that the latter may have happened and the devil reduced to receive the gift. The argument connects to the concept of both power and will which guide humanactions.  There is the view that God ought to have given the devil the ability and will to accept perseverance.

Rather than willing for perseverance, the Devil willed for something different.  In the case of angels, Anselmindicates that they have no will and wholly rely on God’s will.  God’s will is summarized as being justice and happiness. The choice of the will is determined by necessity, and the devil may have been prompted by the necessity to have more power. The creation of both the will to be just and the will to be happy are defined as being the factors that may God to be praiseworthy.

Anselmindicates that the angels have two wills andthus may have been pulled into differentdirections. While the good angels willed fromjustice over happiness, the bad angels were inclined to the will of happiness over just.   The failure to preserve rectitude means that the devil abandoned justice. The author points out that ” no one preserves justice except by wiling what he ought or abandons justice except by willing what he ought not” (Chapter Four).  The definition suggests that in a situation where the two elementsconflicts, one ought to settle for justice.

The bad angels and the devil went against this requirement and settled for what was advantageous. The devil’s sin can thus be summed as being actingunjustly. He willed contrary to the will that God had for him and other angles. The devil willed for more happiness than what he rightfully deserved. Through the will, the devil indicated that he through himself as being better to God. The sin saw the devil lose what was good and gained privation.  On the other hand, abandoningjusticemeant that he was only left with the will for happiness and could not return to the initial state.

Anselm argues that God gives “good” to everyone and it is an individual decision to either hold or let go the good.  The returning to the initial state can only be attained through the grace of God as indicated in the story of the Fall of Man. Just like the good angels, there is the requirement to forego selfish interest and uphold the will to justice.  The inclement to just as opposed to only happiness means that the good angels were sealedinto a state of being forever good and just. They have attained all they could yearn or will and do not will anymore.

The ability to uphold justice is regarded as being the only way of attaining freedom. While good angels cannot sin, they are free and enjoy perfect happiness. In a case where the angels were only given the will for upholding rectitude, external factors would influence necessity thus depriving them freedom. Freedom is, therefore, a position where one only wills correctly. The fall of the devil is thus linked to the argument that he has a stringer will for happiness over justice.   Just like the angels, there were no external factors that influencedDevil’s will. The only factors were an attraction towards happiness and justice.

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