NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Atonement (satisfaction view)

The satisfaction view of the atonement (also known as the penal or punishment theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed circles. Drawing primarily from the works of Anselm of Canterbury and John Calvin, the satisfaction theory teaches that Christ was punished as a substitute on behalf of humankind so that the demands of divine justice could be met, and humans could thus be reconciled to God. The Atonement is the central doctrine of Christianity: everything else derives from it. ... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ... Christian theology practices theology from a Christian viewpoint or studies Christianity theologically. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCEâ€“ 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Luthers seal Lutheranism is a Christian tradition based upon the main theological insights of Martin Luther. ... Calvinism is a system of Christian theology and an approach to Christian life and thought, articulated by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and subsequently by successors, associates, followers and admirers of Calvin and his interpretation of Scripture. ... Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033 or 1034 â€“ April 21, 1109), a widely influential medieval philosopher and theologian, held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. ... John Calvin (July 10, 1509 â€“ May 27, 1564) was an important French Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation and is the namesake of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism. ... Substitutionary atonement is the act of restoring balances by substitution. ...

The classic Anselmian formulation of the satisfaction view needs to be distinguished from Penal Substitution. Anselm regards human sin as defrauding God of the honour he is due. Christ's death, the ultimate act of obedience, brings God great honour. As it was beyond the call of duty for Christ, it is more honour than he was obliged to give. Christ's surplus can therefore repay our deficit. Hence Christ's death is substitutionary; he pays the honour instead of us. This formulation was later modified by Thomas Aquinas and then by Calvin as penal substitution: Christ substituted his death as a substitute for the penalty of death due to sinners. This modified Anselm in two important ways. First, penal substitution focuses on judicial penalty rather than honor. Second, Calvin's penal substitution is individual rather than general. That is, Christ's death substitutes for the penalty of individual people rather than for the general debt owed by humanity. The Governmental Theory of Grotius can be thought of as a general penal substitution theory: Christ's death pays for the general penalty owed by mankind. The Governmental view of the atonement (also known as the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Arminian circles. ...

Anselm links the atonement and the incarnation

Anselm of Canterbury first articulated the satisfaction view in his Cur Deus Homo?[1], or Why Did God Become Man?. The then-current Ransom Theory of the atonement held that Jesus' death paid a ransom to Satan, allowing God to rescue those under Satan's bondage (Cur Deus Homo, I.VII). For Anselm, this solution was inedequate. Why should God the Son have to become a human to pay a ransom? Why should God owe anything at all to Satan? Rather, we owe God a debt of honor. In Anselm's words, This is the debt which man and angel owe to God, and no one who pays this debt commits sin; but every one who does not pay it sins. This is justice, or uprightness of will, which makes a being just or upright in heart, that is, in will; and this is the sole and complete debt of honor which we owe to God, and which God requires of us (I.XI). This debt create essentially an imbalance in the moral universe; it could not be satisfied by God's simply ignoring it (I.XII). In fact, the only possible way of repaying the debt was for a being of infinite greatness, acting as a man on behalf of men, to repay the debt of honor owed to God (II.VI). Thus, when Jesus died he did not pay a debt to Satan, but to God Himself. Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033 or 1034 â€“ April 21, 1109), a widely influential medieval philosopher and theologian, held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. ...

Anslem did not state specifically whether Jesus' payment of debt was for all of mankind as a group or for individual people. However, his language leans in the former direction (II.XIV). However, Thomas Aquinas' developments specifically attribute the scope of the atonement to be general in nature. Saint Thomas Aquinas [Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino] (c. ...

Aquinas codifies the substitution theory

Thomas Aquinas considers the atonement in the Summa Theologiae [2] into what is now the standard Catholic understanding of atonement. He wishes to explore the exact nature of sin, debt, punishment, and grace. In his section on man, he considers whether punishment is good and appropriate. He concludes that (1) punishment is a morally good response to sin, (2) that "Christ bore a satisfactory punishment, not for His, but for our sins.", and (3) that substitution for another's sin is entirely possible (FS, LXXXVII) [3]. This is Thomas' major difference with Anselm. Rather than seeing the debt as one of honor, he sees the debt as a moral injustice to be righted. However, it remains unclear whether the difference between Thomas and Anselm is one of terminology or of substance. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In his section on the Incarnation, Thomas argues that Christ's death satisfies the penalty owed by sin (TP, L.1) [4]), and that it was Christ's Passion specifically that was needed to pay the debt of man's sin (TP, XLVI and XLVII). For Thomas, the Passion of Jesus provided the merit needed to pay for sin: "Consequently Christ by His Passion merited salvation, not only for Himself, but likewise for all His members." (TP, XLVIII), and that the atonement consisted in Christ's giving to God more "than was required to compensate for the offense of the whole human race." The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ...

In this way, Thomas articulated the formal beginning of the idea of a superabundance of merit, which became the basis for the Catholic concept of the Treasury of Merit. Thomas also articulated the ideas of salvation that are now standard within the Catholic church: the notion that justifying grace is provided through the sacraments; the notion that the condign merit of our actions is matched by Christ's merit from the Treasury of Grace; and the concept of mortal and venial sins.

For Thomas, one is saved by drawing on Christ's merit which is provided through the sacraments of the church.

Calvin attributes atonement to individuals

Calvin was the first systematic theologian of the Reformation. As such, he wanted to solve the problem of Christ's atonement in a way that did justice to the Scriptures and Church Fathers, while still rejecting the need for condign merit. His solution was that Christ's death on the cross paid not a general penalty for peoples' sins, but a specific penalty for the sins of people. That is, when Jesus died on the cross, his death paid the penalty at that time for the sins of all those who are saved. One obviously necessary feature of this idea is that Christ's atonement is limited in its effect only to those whom God has chosen to be saved, since the debt for sins was paid at a particular point in time (at the crucifixion). For Calvin, this also required drawing on Augustine's earlier theories of predestination. Limited atonement (or definite atonement or particular redemption) is a controversial doctrine in Christian theology which is particularly associated with Calvinism and is one of the so-called five points of Calvinism. ... Predestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. ...

Hence, for Calvin, one is saved by becoming united to Christ through faith. At the point of becoming united with Christ, one receives all the benefits of the atonement. However, because Christ paid for sins when he died, it is not possible for those for whom he died to fail to receive the benefits: the saved are predestined to believe.

John Calvin and the Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin (July 10, 1509 â€“ May 27, 1564) was an important French Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation and is the namesake of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism. ... Institutes of the Christian Religion is John Calvins seminal work on Protestant theology. ...

Further Developments

Anselm's theory was vague enough that Thomas Aquinas' modifications have completely overshadowed it. Thomas' theory is still official dogma within the Catholic church; it was affirmed at the Council of Trent. Calvin's development was affirmed at the Synod of Dort and is a part of the doctrinal positions of most Reformed denominations. Hugo Grotius' Governmental view should be seen historically as a modification of Calvin, although it represents in some ways a return to the general nature of Thomas' theory; it is the basis for the salvation theories of Protestant denominations who believe in free will. The Council of Trent is reckoned by the Roman Catholic Church to be the Nineteenth Ecumenical Council of the universal church. ... xxx cciiiox The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618/19, by the Dutch Reformed Church, in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. ... The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organizationally independent. ... The Governmental view of the atonement (also known as the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Arminian circles. ...

More radical changes in the theory of atonement such as the Moral Influence view can be seen as reactions against Substitutionary Atonement. The Moral influence view of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and, while originating in the Middle Ages, has been largely taught in liberal Christian circles. ...

Opposing views

Abaelardus and HeloÃ¯se surprised by Master Fulbert, by Romanticist painter Jean Vignaud (1819) Pierre AbÃ©lard (in English, Peter Abelard) or Abailard (1079 â€“ April 21, 1142) was a French scholastic philosopher. ... The Moral influence view of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and, while originating in the Middle Ages, has been largely taught in liberal Christian circles. ... Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; Delft, 10th April 1583 - Rostock, 28th August 1645) worked as a jurist in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) and laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. ... John Miley ( 1813- 1895) was an American Christian theologian in the Methodist tradition who was one of the major Methodist theological voices of the 19th century. ... The Governmental view of the atonement (also known as the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Arminian circles. ...

Contents

Anselm links the atonement and the incarnation

Aquinas codifies the substitution theory

Calvin attributes atonement to individuals

Further Developments

Opposing views

See also

External links

Pro

Con

Contents

Anselm links the atonement and the incarnation GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Aquinas codifies the substitution theory

Calvin attributes atonement to individuals

Further Developments

Opposing views

See also

External links

Pro

Con

Anselm links the atonement and the incarnation