Credo ut intelligam
Credo ut intelligam, alternatively spelled credo ut intellegam, is a Latin sentence of Anselm of Canterbury. The sentence is a reference to Isaiah 7:9. 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, when he says Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam.
The phrase credo ut intelligam is often associated with Anselm's other famous phrase fides quaerens intellectum.
The phrase is based on a sentence of Augustine of Hippo 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. This sentence by Augustine is also inspired from Isaiah 7:9.