On the Harmony of the Foreknowledge, the Predestination, and the Grace of God with Free Choice
Anselm's final theological treatise addresses one of Christianity's most enduring intellectual challenges: how to reconcile divine sovereignty with human freedom. Written in 1107-1108 near the end of his life, this work emerged from decades of pastoral and theological wrestling with questions that had plagued Christian thought since Augustine. Anselm sought to demonstrate that God's foreknowledge, predestination, and grace do not negate genuine human choice, but rather exist in perfect harmony with it.
The treatise unfolds through careful philosophical analysis, employing Anselm's characteristic method of rigorous reasoning guided by faith. He distinguishes between different types of necessity, arguing that while God's knowledge of future events is certain, this certainty does not impose compulsion on human actions. Divine foreknowledge, he contends, is compatible with free will because God's eternal perspective encompasses all temporal moments simultaneously without determining them. Similarly, predestination operates through God's gracious provision of the means by which humans can freely choose the good, rather than through coercive determination of their choices. Grace enables and empowers genuine human response without overwhelming human agency.
This work has remained influential in scholastic theology and continues to shape discussions of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Anselm's careful distinctions and logical precision provided tools that later theologians like Aquinas would refine and develop. His approach offers a middle path between views that either diminish divine sovereignty to preserve human freedom or eliminate human responsibility to maintain divine control.
Who should read this: Students of medieval theology and anyone grappling seriously with predestination and free will debates will find Anselm's logical approach illuminating. Those seeking devotional reading or practical spiritual guidance should look elsewhere, as this is rigorous philosophical theology requiring sustained attention.