Non-Penal Atonement and Anselm's Satisfaction Theory

Christ's work on the cross is traditionally understood as an act of retributive justice in which God punishes Christ in the place of sinful humanity. But this penal view of the atonement is inconsistent with the intrinsic relationship between God's justice and love. An examination informed by Anselm's Satisfaction Theory demonstrates the cross is punishment on sin alone and a declaration in which the Father manifests his justice and love in Christ's offering what we owe, bringing about a new world order of distributive justice.