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Theology of Redemption

Through his suffering and death, Christ truly redeemed us. What exactly is the Redemption that took place on Good Friday, and what does it mean?

Victim

Christ is a true priest who offered his human life on the cross as a true sacrifice to God. It is important to emphasize here that Jesus was a sacrifice and priest according to his human nature, for only human nature can be the subject of sacrifice (destruction). Moreover, the Savior did so on behalf of humanity (for the sins of the entire world) as the representative and Head of the human race.

Redemption

The redemption accomplished by Christ consists of four elements: substitutionary satisfaction, redemption in the strict sense, reconciliation of people with God, and merit.

Substitute compensation

As St. Thomas Aquinas explained, satisfaction is the offering of compensation/payment for an offense/harm caused. Substitute satisfaction is such satisfaction, but offered on someone else's behalf. This does not mean that the substitute formally takes upon himself the guilt of the perpetrator. No one can be guilty of punishment, only the one who committed the offense. The Lord Jesus was innocent. Therefore, Christ's sacrifice did not consist in God formally punishing Him as if all sinners were in His place, for that would be unjust. Through His suffering and death, Christ offered satisfaction (compensation) to God for all the offenses committed by humanity, and in this sense, He bore the punishment for all of us. Council of Trent (session 6, chapter 7): "By his most holy suffering on the wood of the cross... Christ made satisfaction for us to God the Father."

Redemption in the strict sense

Redemption (= redemption) in the strict sense is a work by which someone is released from someone else's slavery (freeing) by paying an appropriate fee. Christ has freed us from the slavery of sin and punishment by making His satisfaction through God's forgiveness of sins and eternal punishment for those who repent. The Savior freed us from original sin and all personal sins by meriting for us sanctifying grace (lost by our first parents), which we can obtain in the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance or through perfect love. The Lord Jesus also freed us from the slavery of Satan, into which we fall through our personal sins. He also freed us from the slavery of death by meriting resurrection for all of us.

Reconciliation of humanity with God

Through sin, we become enemies of God and are separated from Him, for we lack sanctifying grace, the foundation of friendship with the Creator. Through Christ's sacrifice, God was propitiated for the crimes of humanity and mercifully forgives repentant sinners and offers every convert the possibility of eternal life with Him in heaven. Council of Trent (session 5, canon 3): "Christ reconciled us to God in his blood, having become for us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."

Merit

Satisfaction differs from merit in that satisfaction consists in repairing some harm, while merit is the performance of a good deed for someone else's benefit. The sacrifice of Christ the Lord is not only a satisfaction to God for the offense committed, but it is also a source of merit, because it consists in giving honor and glory to the Creator. On the cross, the Lord Jesus earned for us all the graces we receive from God. The merits of Christ, like the satisfaction, have infinite value, because the person of the Son of God, who has infinite dignity, acted in human nature. Council of Trent (session 6, chapter 7): "Christ merited justification for us by his most holy suffering on the wood of the cross." Pope Clement VI in his bull (1343) stated that Christ, through his sufferings, won for his Church an infinite treasure of merits.

🔗continued, sources

#soteriology #redemption

Religious emotion
John Henry Newman

St. John Henry Newman's sermon titled “Religious Emotion” focuses on the important truth that a violent impulse is not the same as an unwavering and sincere resolve of the will. Newman observes that people can experience strong religious emotions without thereby becoming more inclined to practical obedience to God; moreover, an excess of emotions can even hinder perseverance in faith.

Newman illustrates the contrast between emotions and actions with the example of St. Peter, who zealously assured his loyalty only to deny Christ shortly afterward, and the Jerusalem crowd, which first enthusiastically welcomed Jesus with palms and a few days later demanded His crucifixion. The Doctor of the Church warns against the danger of “counterfeit zeal” and confusing fleeting emotions or good thoughts with true obedience. People often soothe their consciences with the fact that they occasionally feel religiously moved, which Newman precisely calls “counterfeit earnestness,” which leads them astray from the simple path of the duties of their state.

The ideal to which a Christian should aspire is not a stormy and passionate love, but a calm, respectful, contemplative, and obedient one—that is, the kind with which a child regards parents. Although strong emotions may accompany conversion or difficult moments, they do not constitute the essence of faith.

Jesus is the supreme model of devotion characterized by “deep calm.” Even in the face of unimaginable suffering in Gethsemane or on the Cross, the words and actions of the Savior were free from exaltation, marked by gravity and simplicity. The sermon ends with a call not to trust in words alone (“Lord, Lord”), but to focus on action.

One hidden act of self-denial or sacrifice for duty is worth more than torrents of tears, ecstasies, or spiritual exaltation. It is precisely good deeds that are the fruits of faith by which we will be judged, while feelings come and go, not being a test of true devotion.

- “(...) religious feelings may be strongly moved, and yet a man does not become thereby more inclined to practical obedience to God. Sometimes even the opposite happens; he becomes less capable of it.”

- “One hidden act of self-denial, one sacrifice of one's own inclination offered to duty, is worth more than all the good thoughts, warm feelings, and fervent prayers to which vain people gladly devote themselves.”

- “It is not enough to call on you to serve Christ in faith, fear, love, and gratitude; one must still ensure that it is the faith, fear, love, and gratitude of a sound mind.”

-“Greater comfort on our deathbed will be given to us by the memory of one act of mercy, purity, or humility that cost us self-denial, than by the memory of many tears shed, frequent ecstasies, and numerous spiritual raptures.”

These are just fragments of the broader perspective on religious emotion that the Doctor of the Church outlines for us.

Full sermon
https://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume1/sermon14.html

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