The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

V. Anselm-Prepares Ground for Repudiation of Tichonianism

Biographical data on ANSELM OF HAVELBERG (d. 1158) is meager. Presumably he was from Lorraine, though some believe he hailed from upper Italy. Norbert, archbishop of Madgeburg, was his friend and protector, bestowing upon him the bishopric of Havelberg, situated to the northeast on the river Elbe. This diocese he held from 1129 to 1155. But, significantly enough, before he could occupy his see, he had first to secure it from the Slavs. It was distinctly a frontier station, on the German border to the east. Twice it was devastated, and twice he rebuilt it. It was a mission outpost in the most literal and rugged sense of the word. PFF1 562.3

More than that, Anselm was a man of deep learning, and evidently of unusual diplomatic skill. He was sent by the emperor as an ambassador extraordinary to Constantinople. And at the same time he was commissioned to represent Rome in a discussion of points of difference with the heads of the Greek Orthodox Church. His disputation with Nicetas (Nechites), archbishop of Nicomedia, was later published upon request of Eugenius III, His Dialogi, the three books of this discussion, brought him to fame, and long were considered the best on the subject. PFF1 562.4

Having thus come into contact with other forms of Christianity, Anselm struggled with the problem of how to explain these differentiations and varieties. This he did in his dialogue De Unitate Fidei et Multiformitate Vivendi ab Abel lusto Usque ad Novissimum Electum ⁵⁰ (Concerning the Unity of Faith and the Multiform Expressions of Life From Abel the Just to the Last of the Elect), where he comes to the conclusion that the differences are caused by human frailty, but that God uses these in His great plan for the rejuvenation of the church. Even more are they necessary because progress in recognition of truth is possible only by this means. PFF1 563.1

1. INTRODUCES NEW PRINCIPLE OF INTERPRETATION

With Anselm a new scheme of interpretation began to appear—or, rather, the restoration of the old. It was a paralleling, or matching, of the demands of prophecy with the consecutive and continuous development of history. PFF1 563.2

Anselm saw three great progressive steps during the ages, each ushered in by a revolutionizing catastrophe. First, the earthquake at Sinai brought the law and the exemplary dispensation of the Old Testament, overcoming the idolatrous concept of the heathen therewith. The second catastrophe came on Golgotha, revealing the love of God and His boundless grace. And the third era was to be ushered in by another catastrophe, a catastrophe that would bring the full and eternal vision of God. ⁵¹ PFF1 563.3

This new and bold concept of a progressive revelation was a radical turning away from the Augustinian theory of the saeculum senescens ⁵² (aging world), and from the remainder of the lex-aeterna ⁵³ (law-eternal) teaching. PFF1 563.4

2. MAKES THE SEALS HISTORICAL

This was first applied to the seals. There has been common agreement as to the first and the sixth and seventh seals and their meaning. The first was the gospel triumphs; the sixth, the precursor of the last judgment; and the seventh, the beginning of the eternal rest. But the intervening sections had been left blank, so far as any historical sequence is concerned. Now Anselm found in history the missing four. PFF1 564.1

Although not a commentary on the Apocalypse, the first book of his dialogue takes these seven seals, according to the Glossa Ordinaria of Walafrid, and covers the bare skeleton of the seven eras with flesh and blood. He begins to show where and when these periods can be fitted into the history of the church. He sees clearly in the first seal the very beginnings of the church in her purity and virtue, with Christ the conquering One. Under the second seal, red with martyrdom till the time of Diocletian, he sees the martyrs having their forerunner in Stephen, followed by Peter and Paul, Andrew, in Achaia, Bartholomew in India, with many others following them. The cross of Christ, once derided and considered a rock of offense, is exalted, honored, and venerated. Magnificent churches are constructed, and bishops and presbyters recalled from exile to minister in them. ⁵⁴ PFF1 564.2

3. HERESY, HYPOCRISY, AND MARTYRS’ REWARD

In the period of the third seal he sees the church blackened by heresy, as Arius, Sabellius, Nestorius, and Eutyches appear and teach false doctrines. But, on the other hand, the most important councils of Nicaea, Antioch, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, which he believes established the sound doctrine of the church, fall under the third seal. The fourth seal, pale under the impact of hypocrisy, illustrates the degradation of all the lofty ideals of the church by the pride of many who in abominable hypocrisy pollute her fair name. Fortunately others are found—such as Augustine, Rufus of Burgundy, Norbert of Magdeburg, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Benedict of Nursia-who counterbalance this deplorable state. Such men are also found in the Eastern church, among whom he names Basil the Great. PFF1 564.3

The fifth seal concerns those who have fought and suffered in the cause of God. And the sixth refers to the world convulsed under Antichrist, the most violent persecution ever to come over this world to be during this time of Antichrist. In the seventh the church reposes in infinite bliss in the deep silence of heaven. ⁵⁵ PFF1 565.1

4. LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR JOACHIM OF FLORIS

This teaching of Anselm of Havelberg is certainly a departure from what we are accustomed to find in these medieval fathers. It is no longer the vague corpus diaboli (body of Satan) teaching of Tichonius, or merely the factual differentiation of seven eras or orders; but these orders are now transformed into chronological order. ⁵⁶ PFF1 565.2

The introduction of concrete historical counterparts is the new element which Anselm has contributed. Under him the exegesis of the Apocalypse passes into the stage of an explanation of church history. Therewith the ground was prepared for the eventual overthrow of the Tichonius tradition. Although Anselm’s work does not seem to have made a deep impression in Germany, it certainly exerted an influence upon the revolutionary Joachim of Floris, through whom the complete reversal of the Tichonius tradition was accomplished. PFF1 565.3