Cur Deus Homo?
Athanasius notes that before the incarnation humanity was under the dominion of false gods, enslaved to corruption and idolatry.  The Word took flesh to deliver us from that slavery, and the form of that deliverance was an act of worship: “in this body offering Himself for all, He might deliver all from false worship and corruption, and might Himself become of all Lord and King.”
This is fitting enough to satisfy Anselm: False worship inverted by one single act of sacrifice.
Augustine and Aquinas say similar things.  Alongside the satisfaction theory, we might place a “liturgical” theory of the atonement.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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