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by Simon
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Anselm’s Theory on the Voluntary Death of Christ
The voluntary death of Christ was necessary to make satisfaction for all the sins. Once sin has occurred, divine honor and justice can be restored only through a voluntary offering of satisfaction equivalent to all sins. Nothing within the created realm can be adequate to make satisfaction. Hence, something greater than the created order is necessary to make satisfaction. Only the life of a person who is both divine and human can be adequate to make satisfaction. Christ meet this requirement. Moreover, Christ is not a sinner and thus is not bound to die. However, Christ gave his life freely to God through the voluntary death. Thus, his work was necessary to make satisfaction for all human sins.
The voluntary death of Christ was sufficient to make satisfaction for all the sins, including the sin of killing Christ. Christ is both divine and human and is greater than all human beings. Besides, Christ is not a sinner and is not bound to die. That He give his life to God through his voluntary death is adequate to make satisfaction for all humans’ sin. Moreover, the sin of killing Christ is worse than all other sins combined. However, those who killed Christ did not recognize His identity so that their sin of killing Christ can also be cover by His death. Thus, Christ’s death is sufficient to make satisfaction for all humans’ sin.
Bibliography Burns, Patout, Lectures of “The Formation of Christian Tradition” in Vanderbilt Divinity school, 2004 Fall.
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