Theologians have offered a variety of theories about the nature of salvation and what happened in the Atonement.

Early Theories

One of the earliest is known as the Ransom Theory. This is based on passages such as Mark 10:45 where Jesus says he came to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. 1 Timothy 2:6). A ransom is usually paid to free a prisoner, so who holds us in prison? Answers varied, but the core idea was that when Adam and Eve sinned, they inadvertently sold themselves into slavery to either sin, death, or the Devil, and thus Jesus had to pay a ransom to whoever or whatever held us to set us free.

Another early explanation of the atonement is the Recapitulation Theory. This sees Jesus’ life and death as a reenactment of human history with Jesus playing the part of the new Adam; where Adam failed, however, Jesus succeeded, and thus he is the beginning of new humanity and rewrites the ending of our story. This is supported by passages such as Ephesians 1:10 and Romans 5:12-21.

Medieval Theories

With Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4-1109), western theology took a turn toward forensic theories of justification. Earlier, Tertullian had advanced a theory of the Atonement in the second century based on principles of Roman law, but it did not gain much of a following. The revival of education in the twelfth century had begun with legal studies, and Anselm not surprisingly began applying legal reasoning to the question of the atonement.

Anselm did not believe we owed anything to Satan. Rather, thinking in terms of feudal law, he argued that our disobedience to God robbed him of the honor he deserved. Only God could restore his honor, but since his honor had been taken by man, man was responsible for providing satisfaction for the lost honor. Thus God had to become man to reconcile us to himself. This is the argument in his work Cur Deus Homo (Why the God Man). This approach is known as the Satisfaction Theory.

Abelard (c.1079-1142), a younger contemporary of Anselm, responded to Cur Deus Homo with the Moral Example Theory. Rather than focusing on God’s honor or man’s sin, Abelard put his focus on God’s love and argued that Jesus’ voluntary death on the Cross was an act of love that was intended to be an example for us of how we are to lay down our lives for each other. Scriptures suggested in support of this view include Mark 10:42-45, Romans 12:1-21, Ephesians 5:1-2, and 1 John 3:16.

Reformation and Modern Theories

Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin (1509-1564) developed their own version of forensic justification in the form of Penal Substitution Theory. In this theory, Jesus bore our sins on the Cross and took on the penalty for them by his death. Calvin took this one step further and argued that when Jesus took on our sins, he gave us his righteousness, an idea called double imputation: our guilt was imputed (transferred) to Jesus and his righteousness was imputed to us. Key verses include Romans 3:23-26 and 1 Peter 2:24.

Lutheran theologian Gustav Aulén (1879-1977) developed the Christus Victor Theory of the Atonement. He argued that rather than paying a ransom to the Devil, Jesus confronted the forces of evil on the Cross and triumphed over them, and with his resurrection freedom from sin, death, and the Devil is now available to all. He also argued that theologians have misunderstood the church fathers’ Ransom Theory, and that its focus was on Christ liberating us from our slavery to sin rather than paying a ransom to sin, death, or the Devil. Verses in support of Christus Victor include Colossians 2:15 and Romans 6:16-20.

The Eastern Orthodox Approach

The Orthodox world views salvation in radically different terms than the western churches do. Although they accept the necessity of the forgiveness of sins, they see salvation more in terms of theosis or divinization, the transformation of the individual into likeness with or union with God through a process of catharsis (purification) and theoria (illumination with a vision of God). This is in keeping with the more apophatic and mystical orientation of the Orthodox Church relative to the western churches. The key verse for theosis is 2 Peter 1:4.

Putting It Together

The important thing to remember about these theories is that we do not need to think of them as mutually exclusive. Our choice isn’t just either-or; it can be both-and. Jesus’ death and resurrection can and does work on many levels simultaneously, and studying and meditating on a variety of these views, especially those we aren’t familiar with, can greatly increase our appreciation for all that Jesus has accomplished for us.