Sunday, January 29, 2006
Anselm--on Why God Became Man
St. Anselm: Why God became Man
The Dilemma
—God is infinite. He has an infinite right to our honor.
—Humans have sinned…an insult to God’s honor.
—Thus, human sin against the infinite God incurs infinite guilt.
—Infinite guilt requires infinite satisfaction (payback).
Dilemma: Humans are finite, not infinite. So, humans cannot pay infinite satisfaction.
**Our Original Sin makes it impossible to pay God back. Even if we lived perfectly from here on out, it would not be good enough. That would only work if there were no Original Sin.
**For infinite satisfaction to be paid, humans need to be perfect plus more (and then some).
Why God cannot just say “no prob, do over”
—God, being good, just, and perfect, cannot tolerate a blot on His honor. Satisfaction must be paid.
—Only an infinite being can make infinite satisfaction. God is the only infinite being, therefore only God can make satisfaction.
Another problem: Only a human being can make satisfaction, since it was a human being who sinned and insulted God’s honor.
(1) Satisfaction must be paid to God.
(2) It must be paid by a human being since it was a human being who caused the problem.
(3) But, only infinite God can make infinite satisfaction.
**We need someone who is both human and infinite God to make satisfaction.
—The ONLY way to make satisfaction, for divine honor to be restored, is for the infinite to become human.
—divine honor can only be restored by a “super-erogation” act, one that goes beyond the minimum requirement of man (perfection).
**This “super-erogative” act was the death of Christ, the one sinless human being, who owed no satisfaction.
—Christ does not need the satisfaction he pays to remove the dishonor to God. His benefits are transferred to the human account, making salvation possible for us.
The Dilemma
—God is infinite. He has an infinite right to our honor.
—Humans have sinned…an insult to God’s honor.
—Thus, human sin against the infinite God incurs infinite guilt.
—Infinite guilt requires infinite satisfaction (payback).
Dilemma: Humans are finite, not infinite. So, humans cannot pay infinite satisfaction.
**Our Original Sin makes it impossible to pay God back. Even if we lived perfectly from here on out, it would not be good enough. That would only work if there were no Original Sin.
**For infinite satisfaction to be paid, humans need to be perfect plus more (and then some).
Why God cannot just say “no prob, do over”
—God, being good, just, and perfect, cannot tolerate a blot on His honor. Satisfaction must be paid.
—Only an infinite being can make infinite satisfaction. God is the only infinite being, therefore only God can make satisfaction.
Another problem: Only a human being can make satisfaction, since it was a human being who sinned and insulted God’s honor.
(1) Satisfaction must be paid to God.
(2) It must be paid by a human being since it was a human being who caused the problem.
(3) But, only infinite God can make infinite satisfaction.
**We need someone who is both human and infinite God to make satisfaction.
—The ONLY way to make satisfaction, for divine honor to be restored, is for the infinite to become human.
—divine honor can only be restored by a “super-erogation” act, one that goes beyond the minimum requirement of man (perfection).
**This “super-erogative” act was the death of Christ, the one sinless human being, who owed no satisfaction.
—Christ does not need the satisfaction he pays to remove the dishonor to God. His benefits are transferred to the human account, making salvation possible for us.
# posted by SeanPatrick @ 3:56 PM 
