Help me with this one. "In Christian theology, the satisfaction view of the atonement is the dominant theory of the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ taught in Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed circles since the Middle Ages." http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Atonement_satisfaction_view

The Protestant reformers shifted the focus of this satisfaction theory to concentrate not merely on divine offense but on divine justice. God's righteousness demands punishment for human sin. God in his grace both exacts punishment and supplies the one to bear it.

This is an important difference. For Anselm, Christ obeyed where we should have obeyed; for John Calvin, he was punished where we should have been punished.
http://www.theopedia.com/Satisfaction_theory_of_the_atonement


Last edited by Pilgrim; Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:49 PM. Reason: Fixed URL to New World Encyclopedia