Anselm, God, and the Act of Sin: Interpretive Difficulties

In the writings of Anselm, we find what appear to be conflicting accounts of God's relationship to creaturely acts of sin. In some passages, acts of sin, insofar as they are real, are said to have God as a cause. In other passages, sinful acts are said to be contrary to God's will, with the result that God's causing them appears logically impossible. I consider two solutions for resolving the conflict, arguing that neither solution is entirely successful.