I typically don’t waste my time responding to foids who are clearly illiterate in Catholic theology, but profoundly ignorant posts such as these expose the Church to calumny. I will be drawing my response from the thought of the Angelic Doctor. First, concerning the necessity of the Our Lord’s Passion it is based on a hypothetical necessity (based on extrinsic factors, namely the ordinance of God), not an absolute necessity (based on the intrinsic nature of the thing). However, St. Thomas is clear that the Passion of Christ is the more fitting means by which man is delivered from eternal damnation, as opposed to deliverance simply by divine decree.
“A thing may be said to be possible or impossible in two ways: first of all, simply and absolutely; or second, from supposition. Therefore, speaking simply and absolutely, it was possible for God to deliver mankind otherwise than by the Passion of Christ, because no word shall be impossible with God (Luke 1:37). Yet it was impossible if some supposition be made. For since it is impossible for God’s foreknowledge to be deceived and His will or ordinance to be frustrated, then, supposing God’s foreknowledge and ordinance regarding Christ’s Passion, it was not possible at the same time for Christ not to suffer, and for mankind to be delivered otherwise than by Christ’s Passion. And the same holds good of all things foreknown and preordained by God.” (ST.III.Q46.A2.C)
“Among means to an end that one is the more suitable whereby the various concurring means employed are themselves helpful to such end. But in this that man was delivered by Christ’s Passion, many other things besides deliverance from sin concurred for man’s salvation…It was accordingly more fitting that we should be delivered by Christ’s Passion than simply by God’s good-will.” (ST.III.Q46.A3.C)
In order to have a proper understanding of vindictive justice (restoration of the order of justice), we must examine its relationship to sin. From the act of sin follows the reatus culpae (guilt of sin), and the reatus poenae (punishment of sin). The former is denied to Christ qua man in His Most Holy Passion simpliciter, but the latter is affirmed secundum quid. The reatus poenae can be understood in the strict sense or in the broad sense. Christ is only said to experience the reatus poenae in the broad sense, because He voluntarily assumed the punishments owed to us. The reatus poenae in the strict sense is only applicable to involuntary punishments.
“Punishment can be considered in two ways—simply, and as being satisfactory. A satisfactory punishment is, in a way, voluntary. And since those who differ as to the debt of punishment, may be one in will by the union of love, it happens that one who has not sinned, bears willingly the punishment for another: thus even in human affairs we see men take the debts of another upon themselves. If, however, we speak of punishment simply, in respect of its being something penal, it has always a relation to a sin in the one punished. Sometimes this is a relation to actual sin, as when a man is punished by God or man for a sin committed by him.” (ST.I-II.Q87.A7.C)
Furthermore, all sin merits punishment that requires some form of satisfaction because it is a disturbance of the moral order established by God’s divine providence. Sin is repugnant to God because it is contrary to His absolute goodness, as sin consists in a privation of the good. Anger and wrath are not predicated of God in the literal sense as God does not experience emotions, but only as an anthropopathism insofar as these emotions signify one who punishes, and restores the moral order by His justice.
“Sin incurs a debt of punishment through disturbing an order. But the effect remains so long as the cause remains. Wherefore so long as the disturbance of the order remains the debt of punishment must needs remain also. Now disturbance of an order is sometimes reparable, sometimes irreparable: because a defect which destroys the principle is irreparable, whereas if the principle be saved, defects can be repaired by virtue of that principle. For instance, if the principle of sight be destroyed, sight cannot be restored except by Divine power; whereas, if the principle of sight be preserved, while there arise certain impediments to the use of sight, these can be remedied by nature or by art. Now in every order there is a principle whereby one takes part in that order. Consequently if a sin destroys the principle of the order whereby man’s will is subject to God, the disorder will be such as to be considered in itself, irreparable, although it is possible to repair it by the power of God. Now the principle of this order is the last end, to which man adheres by charity.” (ST.I-II.Q87.A3.C)
Now Christ alone as the God-Man by His voluntary theandric act could make satisfaction for the infinite debt owed to sin. The debt owed to sin is said to be infinite with respect to the dignity of God who is offended by sin, as all sin is a disturbance of His moral order established by divine decree. For example, a man who slaps a king receives a far harsher punishment than a man who slaps a slave, not with respect to the act itself, but due to the dignity of the one wronged by the act. Christ alone could make for us de condigno in the strict sense because the dignity of Christ’s flesh is not measured from flesh, but it is measured insofar as it is God’s flesh. This dignity is infinite because the divine suppositum of the Word subsists in Christ’s sacred humanity. Even man in a state of justice can only merit de condigno in the broad sense because Christ alone qua man has an equal dignity to the rewarder, as it is the divine suppositum who subsists in Christ’s sacred humanity.
“The dignity of Christ’s flesh is not to be estimated solely from the nature of flesh, but also from the Person assuming it—namely, inasmuch as it was God’s flesh, the result of which was that it was of infinite worth.” (ST.III.Q48.A2.Rep3)
Lastly, it should be noted that it is Catholic doctrine that Christ possessed the beatific vision His entire earthly life. How does one reconcile this with the intense sorrow Christ experienced that is clearly recorded in Holy Writ? While Catholic theologians have many proposed solutions to reconcile these two truths, I would say the best synthesis is to simply say that Christ did not allow His upper faculties to provide comfort to His lower faculties in His Passion. The rest of this post consists of assertions and utter falsehoods that are repugnant to Catholic theology and Holy Writ. As Good Friday is tomorrow, it is of utmost importance that the Catholic theory of atonement is properly presented, and its overall relationship to orthodox Christology.
Did God the Father pour out His wrath on His Son?
Problems with the Penal Substitution Atonement theory (PSA):
PSA implies opposition between Father and Son, contradicting Trinitarian doctrine: the three Persons share one undivided essence, will, and love, acting in perfect harmony. The idea of the Father turning against the Son in wrath fractures the seamless unity of the Triune God.
God cannot simply forgive out of love but instead requires a violent sacrifice to satisfy His anger or justice. This makes forgiveness conditional on punishment rather than a free, merciful act.
PSA can suggest God is constrained by a higher principle of retributive justice that even He must satisfy, limiting divine freedom and portraying Him as less sovereign or merciful than Scripture depicts.
If the just penalty for sin is eternal separation from God, as some suggest, how could Jesus’ finite suffering, hours on the cross, followed by death and resurrection after three days, possibly pay that full, infinite/eternal penalty?
PSA portrays God as punishing the innocent. Justice requires that only the guilty face punishment, and guilt cannot be transferred. Yet in PSA, Christ— perfectly innocent—is punished for humanity’s sins, making God appear unjust.
Old Testament sacrifices weren’t about transferring punishment from the guilty to an innocent victim. They were mainly about purification and restoring the relationship with God. The Passover lamb, for example, wasn’t punished for sin; it was eaten as a sacred meal. The New Testament wouldn't break from the Old Testament typology of what sacrifices accomplished.
Penal substitutionary atonement was largely absent from the early Church and only became prominent after the Reformation. Even medieval theologians like Anselm, who spoke of Christ satisfying what was owed for sin, did not promote the idea that Christ received punishment from the Father. That idea developed very late in Christian history.
Scripture shows death as the result of turning from God, not a punishment he imposes. If death is a consequence, not a penalty, there is nothing for Christ to “take” in our place. He enters death to defeat it, freeing humanity from sin and restoring our life with God, not simply satisfying a legal sentence.
objections:
Propitiation:
The New Testament word hilasterion, often translated “propitiation,” can mean cleansing or the mercy seat rather than appeasing God’s wrath. Romans 3:25 emphasizes Christ removing sin and restoring fellowship with God, not satisfying a legal penalty. The Bible never says Christ was punished by the Father to satisfy divine wrath, so PSA reads ideas into the text that were never there.
Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53 is a central prophecy for defenders of penal substitutionary atonement, yet it is often taken out of context. Nowhere in Isaiah does it say that the Father is punishing Christ.
Verse 4 tells us that although he “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” Reworded, this reflects humanity’s perception that he is afflicted by God, not that God has actively punished him.
Verse 5 says, “by his stripes we are healed,” not “by his stripes the Father is appeased.” A literal translation from the Septuagint makes this even clearer: “The one our sins bore and on account of us he was grieved. And we considered him to be a misery, and for calamity by God, and for ill-treatment. But he was wounded because of our sins and was made infirm on account of our lawless deeds.”
Isaiah 53, properly read, is a prophecy of Christ’s healing and restorative work, emphasizing his solidarity with human suffering and the redemption he brings, rather than a narrow focus on satisfying divine wrath.