Origen · Commentary on Matthew
Ransom Theory
The problem it faces
The devil owns the souls of men.
The move it makes
Jesus paid the ransom to the devil to free men.
The new problem it opens
Gives the devil power over God -- something that Anselm would address later.
My notes
Origen, notably, was a universalist. He believed that the ransom paid covered the whole of the human race.
The need for satisfaction (in this case to the devil) in order to achieve man's rescue is the seed he planted that would later develop into what we know as penal substitutionary atonement.
Where this sits
Downstream
- Anselm · Cur Deus Homo move creditor from Satan to God