The theology of satisfaction

Abstract

The notion of redemption and satisfaction is intimately connected with that of sin. In his classic work on The Theology of Saint Paul, F. Frat remarks: "Redemption is essentially the destruction of sin. If sin is a fall, redemption will be a remedy; if sin is a debt, redemption will be an expiation; if sin is a bondage, redemption will be a deliverance; if sin is an offence, redemption will be a satisfaction as regards God, and a mutual reconciliation between God and man." There are as many aspects of redemption as there are of sin. Whatever emphasis, therefore, is placed on a particular aspect of sin, a correlative emphasis may be placed on a particular aspect of redemption. A similar connection is explicitly referred to in the encyclical Humani Generis: "Along with the perversion of the concept of sin in general as an offence against God, goes also the perversion of idea of satisfaction performed for us by Christ."