Page 95 - Biblical Theology Textbook - masters

2. Payment-to-Satan Theory. It was spread by Origen and taught by other early Fathers. It holds that
Christ’s “death was paid to Satan as a ransom to deliver man from any claims which Satan might have
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upon him.”

3. Recapitulation Theory. It was championed by Irenaeus and it states that Christ in His life and death
repeated all phases of human life, including being made sin in His death on the cross. In so doing, He
does properly what Adam failed to do. Christ’s satisfy the divine justice of God but considered this only
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one phase of the total picture.

4. Commercial or Satisfaction Theory. It was offered by Anselm and states that the goal for the
sacrifice was to satisfy God’s honor injured by sin. To achieve that goal, a suitable sacrifice was required
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to be offered. However, it denies that the sacrifice offered by Jesus was vicarious.

5. Moral Influence Theory. This theory was introduced by Abelard in opposition to the commercial
theory of Anselm. It states that God does not require Christ’s death as compensation for sin. The
number one purpose for Christ’s death was to manifest God’s love and to show His fellowship with the
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believers in their sufferings. Christ’s death is not meant for the satisfaction of divine law. Among those
theories, substitutionary atonement finds an irresistible support from the Scripture than any other
theory.

Top 10 Reasons Jesus is God the Creator

72 Ibid.
73 Ibid., 158.
74 Ibid., 211.
75 Hays, J. Daniel. The Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old
Testament. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010, p. 278.

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