Part Two: What Does Anselm Teach Regarding the “Fullness of Joy?”

Anselm’s teaching regarding the “fullness of joy” in his Proslogion is preceded by a discussion of God as the ultimate good. In transitioning to this discussion of God’s goodness, which, as Finley elucidates, “refers to what He is in Himself: to His own, possessed, internal ‘greatness,’” Anselm confesses to God that “You are nothing save the one and supreme good, You who are completely sufficient unto Yourself, needing nothing, but rather He whom all things need in order that they may have being and well-being.”[1] Anselm’s words at this point are significant insofar as they emphasize that the necessary and self-sufficient God is the source of not just a person’s being (i.e., existence), but his or her well-being; thus, human wholeness (i.e., well-being) necessarily comes from God.

Anselm goes on to discuss how the three Persons of the Trinity are indivisibly one and the same in terms of this ultimate goodness, leading him to challenge his own soul to “rouse and lift up your whole understanding and think as much as you can on what kind and how great this good is.”[2] Anselm asks, “For if life that is created is good, how good is the Life that creates? If the salvation that has been brought about is joyful, how joyful is the Salvation that brings about salvation?”[3]

Why does Anselm ask these questions? He is demonstrating that the S-t-w-n-g-c-b-t is not only the greatest and necessary being, but that the S-t-w-n-g-c-b-t is also the source of all goodness and true/full human life. To enjoy the things that come from God, such as life and salvation, raises the heart and mind to consider how great the source of these things must be. Anselm is, in a sense, inviting his readers to move with him from celebrating the gifts to celebrating the Giver; to recognize that the gifts are given not for their own sake but to draw the recipient to the Giver, who is Himself the ultimate gift. As Anselm explains, “Why, then, do you wander about so much, O insignificant man, seeking the goods of your soul and body? Love the one good in which all good things are, and that is sufficient. Desire the simple good which contains every good, and that is enough.”[4]

Later, following a litany of desires that one might have that are realized only in and through God (e.g., beauty, freedom, health and longevity, satisfaction, melody, pleasure, wisdom), Anselm describes how even friendship is ultimately found in God: “If it is friendship [they seek], they will love God more than themselves and one another as themselves, and God will love them more than they love themselves because it is through Him that they love Him and themselves and one another, and He loves Himself and them through Himself.”[5] Although complex, Anselm’s language here is richly describes the rewards of knowing God as the beginning and end of all of life.

Anselm concludes with this paradoxical thought, thereby introducing the discussion of joy that concludes the Proslogion:

[I]f they love God with their whole heart, their whole mind, their whole soul, while yet their whole heart, their whole mind, their whole soul, is not equal to the grandeur of this love, they will assuredly so rejoice with their whole heart, their whole mind, and their whole soul, that their whole heart, their whole mind, their whole soul will not be equal to the fullness of their joy.[6]

Anselm follows this thought with his consideration of whether or not the joy found in experiencing God as the ultimate source of all that humans desire is the same “fullness of joy” Jesus speaks of in John 16:24, “Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full,” and in Matthew 25:21, where Jesus rewards His servants with the directive to “enter into the joy of [the] Lord.”)[7] What is Anselm’s conclusion?

Anselm offers what may be described as a “now and not yet” answer: as for the “now” aspect, there is a sense in which great joy comes to those who give themselves wholly to know and love S-t-w-n-g-c-b-t; but there is also a “not yet” as to the depth of joy that is only known when it is experienced perfectly in heaven. Anselm describes the “now and not yet” tension, “For I have discovered a joy that is complete and more than complete. Indeed, when the heart is filled with that joy, the mind is filled with it, the soul is filled with it, the whole man is filled with it, yet joy beyond measure will remain. The whole of that joy, then, will not enter into those who rejoice, but those who rejoice will enter wholly into that joy.”[8] The last sentence of this quote captures the essence of the “now and not yet.” Yes, present joy is truly amazing; however, the fullness of that joy will not enter into the believer now, but the believer will enter into it in the eschaton. Anselm sees the believer’s joy in this life as a foretaste of the greater joy to come.

To summarize: 1) Anselm argues that the triune God is the greatest good, and that only in seeking Him will His creatures find their ultimate fulfillment and well-being; 2) Anselm discusses the depth of God’s goodness, leading to the question of whether or not seeking and experience God as the greatest good is the “fullness of joy” Jesus promises; 3) Anselm answers ‘Yes,’ and ‘No.’ ‘Yes,’ concludes Anselm, God is the “fullness of joy” that the believer experiences as a result of living life in relationship with Him. ‘No,’ the believer will not experience the “fullness of joy” Jesus promises until the culmination of all things in the coming eschaton. The next consideration is how the “fullness of joy” relates to the ontological argument.

[1] Finley, PHH 605 Lecture Notes for Week 11,” and Anselm, Proslogion, 99.

[2] Anselm, Proslogion, 100.

[3] Anselm, Proslogion, 100-101.

[4] Anselm, Proslogion, 101.

[5] Anselm, Proslogion, 101.

[6] Anselm, Proslogion, 102-103. Paradox is used here not in the sense of contradiction, but in the sense of an apparent contradiction that is, upon closer examination, mysterious but not contradictory.

[7] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).

[8] Anselm, Proslogion, 103.

T. J. Gentry is the Executive Editor of MoralApologetics.com, the Senior Minister at First Christian Church of West Frankfort, IL, and the Co-founder of Good Reasons Apologetics. T. J. has been in Christian ministry since 1984, having served as an itinerant evangelist, youth minister, church planter, pastoral counselor, and Army chaplain. He is the author of numerous books and peer-reviewed articles, including Pulpit Apologist: The Vital Link between Preaching and Apologetics (Wipf and Stock, 2020), You Shall Be My Witnesses: Reflections on Sharing the Gospel (Illative House, 2018), and two forthcoming works published by Moral Apologetics Press: Leaving Calvinism, Finding Grace, and A Moral Way: Aquinas and the Good God. T. J. is a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, holding board-certification as a Pastoral Counselor and a Chaplain. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University (BA in Political Science), Luther Rice College and Seminary (MA in Apologetics), Holy Apostles College and Seminary (MA in Philosophy), Liberty University (MAR in Church Ministries, MDiv in Chaplaincy, ThM in Theology), Carolina University (DMin in Pastoral Counseling, PhD in Leadership, PhD in Biblical Studies), and the United States Army Chaplain School (Basic and Advanced Courses). He is currently completing his PhD in Theology at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa (2021), his PhD in Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (2022), and his PhD in Philosophy of Religion at Southern Evangelical Seminary (2024). T. J. married Amy in 1995, and they are blessed with three daughters and two sons. T. J.’s writing and other projects may be viewed at TJGentry.com.