Episode
Was the Death of Christ a Ransom Paid to Satan?
- Podcast
- Think for Christ
- Published
- Jul 15, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1126
- Processing state
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- https://rss.com/podcasts/thinkforchrist/2115985
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Summary
In recent years, an old and largely discarded view of Christ’s atonement has been quietly resurfacing on the internet. Known historically as the Ransom Theory (or the Ransom from Satan Theory) this idea suggests that Jesus died as a payment to Satan in order to free humanity from his grasp. According to this view, as a result of Adam's sin, Satan was given legal and rightful authority over the lost souls of humans. Since Satan had rightful claim, God could not simply exercise his power over him and instead offered the soul of Christ in exchange for the those in captivity to Satan. In this video, Anthony Alberino traces the emergence of the Ransom Theory from its early roots in the Church Fathers to its imaginative retelling in modern times by C.S. Lewis in his The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Alberino then a biblical critique of the view and makes the case that the Ransom Theory should remain a relic of the past. What you'll learn: What the Ransom Theory is and where it came from Why it fails as a biblically faithful theory of the atonement How Christ and the New Testament writers understood the atonement The real meaning of the words ransom and redemption as deployed in the New Testament 🔔 Subscribe for more theological and philosophical analysis, biblical teaching, and cultural critique.