St Anselm of Canterbury, Doctor Magnificus of the Church, wrote a dialogue entitled Cur Deus Homo towards the end of the eleventh century. In it, he explores the question of why God became man and provides the first instance of what is now called the satisfaction theory of atonement. Here, I intend only to summarize his central argument. There is much more that St Anselm discusses which I will not bring up; if the reader is interested there are fine translation available for free online.
Cur Deus Homo?
Cur Deus Homo?
Cur Deus Homo?
St Anselm of Canterbury, Doctor Magnificus of the Church, wrote a dialogue entitled Cur Deus Homo towards the end of the eleventh century. In it, he explores the question of why God became man and provides the first instance of what is now called the satisfaction theory of atonement. Here, I intend only to summarize his central argument. There is much more that St Anselm discusses which I will not bring up; if the reader is interested there are fine translation available for free online.