About

Anselm’s work inspired the name and purpose of my blog, so he has an About Page of his own. You can find it here.

Publisher’s bio

I’m Jonni Turner, writer of the Anselm’s Quest blog and producer and publisher of this website. A picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, so the image below will give you some idea of my professional life and work so far. Among other things, I have been a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Navy, a radio producer, writer and broadcaster, an artist and an inventor.

After decades of fulfillment in the world of work and family I finally found the time to go to university, and graduated in 2013 with a BAH first class, Religious Studies and German, from the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, Halifax. (The two universities have a unique relationship.)

King’s  is a special star among universities in the English-speaking world. It is small but mighty, and through its alumni has a positive influence in many diverse corners of the world. Its academic environment is unique, as are its spiritual, creative, social and cultural opportunities. Sometimes I think it saved my life.

University was where I finally began to understand the mysterious part of my life I had kept hidden from most people. That was the experience of God I had known in various mystical states since childhood. This unfolding discovery is the subject of my book-in-progress, An Ordinary Mystic. 

Credo . . .

Before I tell you more about my work, I want you to know what I believe. Your own beliefs may be similar or quite different. What matters on the quest is that you continue to test and explore them in the light of your expanding knowledge about the created world as

• perceived through science,
• explored through theology and philosophy,
• experienced through the senses, and
• illumined by the presence of God.

Such testing over time tempers faith, and carries us forward to face every new challenge to it.

I became an Anglican after decades away from a church environment, only because God cast me into that church (a story I relate in detail in An Ordinary Mystic). Remaining there meant accepting the foundations of Anglican doctrine or teaching, including the three major creeds from the early ecumenical councils of the Church:

• The Apostles’ Creed
• The Nicene Creed, and
• The Creed of Saint Athanasius.

Below is the Nicene Creed from the Book of Common Prayer, for those who are unfamiliar with it. It is more completely stated than The Apostles’ Creed but more concise than that of Saint Athanasius. The language is somewhat archaic to a modern ear (Holy Ghost rather than Holy Spirit, for example), but it is embedded in the Holy Communion liturgy I love, particularly when it is sung as it is in the King’s Chapel.

It is almost certain, however, that I understand the meaning of the Nicene Creed quite differently than the Early Church Fathers did, given the great increase in knowledge brought about by centuries of theological reflection and scientific exploration. There are also other aspects of church doctrine beyond the “universally agreed-upon foundations of Anglican doctrine” that I believe should be amended. (Here I would also like to thank Lancia Smith for the inspiration of including statements of belief in my biographical notes.)

Work and vocation to follow . . .