Between Hope and Fear: Monastic Bodies at the Foot of the Cross

Abstract

With Anselm and Abelard, the story of the cross enters a new era. These figures are much closer in theological views than atonement textbooks often portray. Anselm draws on the cult of the saints to develop affective devotion, the imaginative, emotive meditation on the life of Christ, in his Prayers and Meditations. Anselm’s atonement theology, usually associated with his Cur Deus Homo, is actually articulated in these prayers in relationship to incarnational theology and Mariology. Abelard’s theology of redemption draws on martyrological ideas, also expressed in his correspondence with Heloise, of suffering for Christ’s sake. Heloise, however, rejects heroic, masculine spirituality. All three witness to the transformation of monastic disciplines into lay-oriented spirituality, focused on emotional devotion to the cross.