It is commonplace among theologians to identify Anselm’s satisfaction theory of atonement as a progenitor of the penal substitution theory (PST) of atonement common in certain strands of …

Anselm's theory was a precursor to the theology of later theologians like John Calvin, who taught the idea of Christ suffering the Father's just punishment as a vicarious substitute. The classic …

Nov 21, 2025 · In feudal society, an offender was required to make recompense, or satisfaction, to the one offended according to that person’s status. Thus, a crime against a king would …

Anselm's theory was a precursor to the refinements of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin which introduced the idea of punishment to meet the demands of divine justice. The classic …

The classic Anselmian formulation of the Satisfaction View needs to be distinguished from Penal Substitution. Penal Substitution states that Christ bore the penalty for sin, in place of those …

While debates continued over how best to describe atonement-whether as ransom, penal substitution, or moral influence-the Satisfaction Theory remains historically significant as one …

As a derivative of the Satisfaction Theory, the Penal Substitution Theory stresses that Jesus willingly took the punishment for our sins upon himself and satisfied the wrath of God that we …

Next to be examined, the Necessary-Satisfaction Theory proposed by the Benedictine Monk, Anselm (1033-1109), was the first penned and widely circulated theory of atonement which put …

Penal substitution has had a strong hold on much of American Protestantism throughout history—so much so that it has absorbed and superseded satisfaction. Much of the …

Gustaf Aulén, in his classic Christus Victor, argues that the ransom theory was the dominant understanding of the atonement for over a thousand years and that the penal substitution …