Credo ut intelligam

{{Short description|Sentence of Anselm of Canterbury}}

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{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date = March 2018}}

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Credo ut intelligam, alternatively spelled credo ut intellegam, is a Latin sentence of Anselm of Canterbury (Proslogion, 1). The sentence is a reference to Isaiah 7:9.{{cite web |title=Anselmus Cantuariensis - Proslogion, 1 |url=https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/anselmproslogion.html |access-date=10 August 2019 |publisher=The Latin Library |language=la}} The sentence translates as: "I believe so that I may understand".

In Anselm's writing, it is placed in juxtaposition to its converse, intellego ut credam ("I think so that I may believe"), when he says Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam ("I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand").

The phrase credo ut intelligam is often associated with Anselm's other famous phrase fides quaerens intellectum{{cite web |title=Anselmus Cantuariensis - Proslogion, Proemium |url=https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/anselmproslogion.html |accessdate=10 August 2019 |publisher=The Latin Library |language=la}} ("faith seeking understanding").

The phrase is based on a sentence of Augustine of Hippo (crede ut intellegas,{{cite web |title=Sermo 43, 7,9 |url=https://www.augustinus.it/latino/discorsi/discorso_054_testo.htm |accessdate=21 October 2020 |language=la}} {{literal translation|lk=yes}} "believe so that you may understand"){{cite book |last=Hütter |first=Reinhard |authorlink=Reinhard Hütter |title=Bound for Beatitude. A Thomistic Study in Eschatology and Ethics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wr-VDwAAQBAJ |year=2019 |publisher=CUA Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-81323181-5 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wr-VDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Tractates+on+the+Gospel+of+John%22+(29.6),+Augustine+%22Believe+so+that+you+may+understand%22&pg=PA196 196]}}{{cite book |last=Folsom |first=Marty |title=Face to Face. Volume Three: Sharing God's Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwIdDQAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock |location=Eugene, Oregon |isbn=978-1-49820761-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hwIdDQAAQBAJ&dq=%22I+do+not+seek+to+understand+in+order+that+I+may+believe,+but+rather,+I+believe+in+order+that+I+may+understand%22%22Neque+enim+quaero+intelligere+ut+credam,+sed+credo+ut+intelligam%22%22faith+seeking+understanding%22%22fides+quaerens%22&pg=PA61 61]}} to relate faith and reason. Augustine understood the saying to mean that a person must believe in something in order to know anything about God.Nash, Ronald H., Faith and Reason, p. 88. This sentence by Augustine is also inspired from Isaiah 7:9.{{Cite web |last=TeSelle |first=Eugene |date= |title=Crede ut intellegas |url=https://www.augustinus.de/bwo/dcms/sites/bistum/stellen/4/228/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515230818/https://www.augustinus.de/bwo/dcms/sites/bistum/stellen/4/228/ |archive-date=2023-05-15 |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Zentrum für Augustinus-Forschung}}