St. Anselm and satisfaction theory of redemption: Another take on Christmas

In 1099 A.D., St. Anselm of Canterbury completed a manuscript entitled Cur Homo Deus, (“Why Did God Become Man?”). This work  became the classic treatment of the satisfaction theory of redemption.  According to this theory, which is based on the feudal system of society, finite humanity has committed a crime or, more accurately, a sin against the infinite God. In feudal society, an offender was required to make recompense or, better, satisfaction, to the one offended, according to that person’s status. For example, a crime against the king would require more satisfaction than a crime against a duke or a serf, for that matter. Along this way of thinking, finite humanity, which could never make satisfaction to the infinite God, could expect only eternal death.

The instrument needed to bring humans back into good standing with God, could only be rendered by someone who was both God (since God could overcome sin with sinlessness) and human (because humans were those who were guilty of sin). God became man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, in a moment known in theological circles as the “incarnation,” the “embodiment” or taking on our full humanity in all ways but sin.  Despite those who held that God became man because he loved us (cf. Scotus an St. Bonaventure), Anselm maintained that he death of the God-man (Christ) on the Cross was the only rationally intelligible way in which sinful humanity could have been reconciled with God.

Atonement is made possible through Jesus Christ, by whose infinite merits humankind is purified in an act of cooperative re-creation. 

It is noteworthy that St. Anselm did not accept the theory that humanity, through its sin, owed a debt to the devil. Instead, he placed the essence of redemption in individual union with Christ in the Eucharist, to which the Sacrament of Baptism, (by which a person is incorporated into the Church), opens the way.

While many of us are in awe of the Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel, where rarely do we hear about the Incarnation or the Nativity, it is easy for us to get caught up in the meaning of Christmas as “love,” “family,” “exchanging gifts,” “decorations,” “baking,” or “singing carols.” St. Anselm’s masterpiece, Cur Homo Deus gives us the true meaning of the Incarnation and nine months later, by association, Christmas. It would bode well for us and our children during these final days of Advent to focus on the true reason for the season, which is neither love, family, gifts, decorations, cookies or carols but the Incarnation. 

This is that glorious moment in time, when the eternal Son of God is sent to us by the Father out of loving mercy, not just love but, as they say in Hebrew, “Hessed,” “loving mercy.”  God did not have to save us. He could have just let us fade away and created a new race of humanity. Instead, realizing that we were unable to save ourselves from the sin of Adam, he took pity on us. It is this mercy coated in love, that propels the Father to send his only Son to us, to be one of us, so as to save us from our sins, and consequent estrangement from God. 

As we gaze on our Nativity set at home or in Church, think about the courage that Mary had in saying “yes” to the will of God, articulated through the Angel, Gabriel. Contemplate the courage of St. Joseph, who chose to remain with Mary as his wife, even though he was not the biological “dad” of Jesus. Ponder most of all, the courage of the Son-made-man, who sanctified our bodies, our matter, by his holy Incarnation. Through his Suffering, Death and Resurrection, Christ forever saved the plight of humankind. It is this Jesus, the Christ, who gives us reason to have hope in dark moments for better days ahead. It is this Jesus, the Christ, who empowers us, by his grace, to  experience joy at Christmastime and throughout the year. It is St. Anselm of Canterbury who helps us understand why it is that we should greet each other with the words: “Merry Christmas!”

Father Comandini serves as diocesan coordinator of the Office for Ongoing Faith Formation.