The Concept of Redemption in the Patristic Tradition

. 3 Merit As with the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction, so too the concept of "merit" is developed in the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, it also has its roots in the Holy Scripture and in the Fathers.¹ "Merit" means the right to be recompensed. It is a Latin term which does not find a direct correspondence in the Greek language where the doctrine is circumscribed by formulations like "to be worthy of." In Holy Scripture, the doctrine of merit is implicitly recognized in the numerous affirmations which state the effect of the death of Christ in relation to our salvation. The biblical text which founded the application of the word "merit" to the saving work of Christ is the Christological hymn in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians: the humiliation and the obedience until the death on the Cross are the motive for the exaltation of the Lord (Phil 2:9). Hilary of Poitiers writes about this text: "because of the merit of humility" or the "merit of obedience" in His human nature, Christ deserved His glorification.² A splendid formulation dealing with the merit of the Savior can be found in Augustine: "Humility is the merit of glory. Glory is the price of humility."³

According to the Latin poet, Venantius Fortunatus (sixth century), the Blessed Virgin has "merited" to bear in Her womb Her Creator, and to beget the God whom She first had conceived by Her faith.⁴ Not the technical term, but the reality of saving merit is already attributed to Mary when She is presented as the New Eve. As a striking example, we can cite St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna in the fifth century, and one of the chief authorities at the Council of Chalcedon:

Blessed art thou among women; for among women, on whose wombs Eve, who was cursed, brought punishment,Mary, being blest, rejoices, is honoured, and is looked up to. And woman, who had been by nature mother of the dying, is now truly made through grace the Mother of the living... Heaven feels awe of God, Angels tremble before Him, creatures sustain Him not, nature suffices not; and yet a sole maiden takes, receives, entertains Him, as guest within her breast, that, for the very hire of her home, and as the price of her womb, she asks, and obtains peace on earth, glory for the heavens, salvation for the lost, life for the dead, heavenly parentage for the earthly, union of God Himself with human flesh.⁵

John Henry Newman, who in his "Letter to Pusey," develops the importance of Immaculate Conception from the Patristic doctrine of the Second Eve, makes a significant comment on this stellar testimony of St. Peter Chrysologus: "It is difficult to express more explicitly, though in oratorical language, that the Blessed Virgin had a real meritorious co-operation, a share which had a 'hire' and a 'price,' in the reversal of the fall."⁶

4. 4 The Example of Christ

In the first rank of redemptive terms, we find concepts such as "ransom," "sacrifice," "satisfaction," and "merit" which have received great attention in view of systematical reflection. Nevertheless, we should not overlook a basic concept to which Turner, in his essay on Patristic soteriology, assigns even a certain priority: Jesus Christ is the Teacher of truth; He enlightens us by His Revelation.⁷ This activity on His part involves, first of all, His example which should and can be imitated when we receive the gift of grace. Patristic testimonies concerning this aspect are numerous.⁸ for instance, underlines how the Passion of Christ gave us new saving knowledge: "The Lord has suffered, in order to guide to the knowledge of the Father, those who had withdrawn themselves from it ... The Passion of the Lord, bringing to us the knowledge of the Father, was the fountain of salvation ...."⁹

The most in-depth study of the illuminating feature of salvation can be found in Augustine who interprets the death of the Savior in terms of the concepts "sacrament" and "example" (sacramentum-exemplum):

Therefore on this double death of ours our Savior bestowed His own single death; and to cause both our resurrections, He instituted beforehand and set forth in mystery (sacramentum) and type (exemplum) His own one resurrection ... being clothed in mortal flesh, and dying alone in that, rising again in that alone, in that alone did He answer to both for us; since in it was wrought a mystery (sacramentum) as regards the inner man, and a type (exemplum) as regards the outer.¹⁰

If salvation consisted only in imitating the illuminating example of Christ, the doctrine of Redemption would risk a pelagian reduction which focuses attention on the human effort to follow the Savior. Augustine does not deny this dimension, but he completes it with the doctrine of grace: the gift of our interior renewal comes from the death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Whereas the early Augustine stressed the exemplary value of Christ and the cross (...), this emphasis is later complemented by more explicit reflection on what Christ accomplished on the cross as redeemer. New pastoral concerns; greater familiarity with the Bible, especially St. Paul; and a more profound reflection on the human condition enabled the development of Augustine's soteriology in tandem with his

anthropology, theology of sin and grace, sacramentology, and ecclesiology.¹¹

The saving example of the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God can be abundantly illustrated with numerous citations from the Fathers. Their doctrine concerns the saving role of the Second Eve, with Her obedience at the Incarnation, an obedience which should be imitated. A special attention is given to Mary as example for Christian virgins who have consecrated their lives to their heavenly bridegroom, Jesus Christ. In this sense, Origen can already write in the middle of the third century: "I believe that it makes sense if the first fruit of the purity which manifests itself in chastity among men is Jesus, but among women Mary, because it would not be commendable to ascribe the first fruit of virginity to another woman."¹²

4. 5 Deification

The ultimate goal of the teaching of Christ, of His example, of His sacrifice-briefly, of His entire saving work-can be described as "deification," a technical term (théosis) which comes from Gregory of Nazianzus.¹³ Already, the Second Epistle of Peter proclaims participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). According to Irenaeus, the Word of God became man "so that the man received in himself the Word and, adopted as son, becomes the son of God."¹⁴ The appeal of Clement of Alexandria to the Greeks was that "the Logos of God had become man so that you might learn from a man how a man may become God."¹⁵ Athanasius, in his famous treatise on the Incarnation, observes that "the Word became man so that we could be deified."¹⁶ This is a classical formulation for the admirable exchange (admirabile commercium) wrought by the Redemption.¹⁷ The doctrine of divinization is prominent in the East, but expressions of it are neither lacking in the West.¹⁸ "Deification" does not mean a transformation of man into God, but a participation in the divine life which maintains the propriety of the creature, restores its original beauty, and guides it to perfection. This participation finds a prominent realization in the Theotokos, the Mother of God: in Her we find the Second Eve who will not fall again, but who is assumed into heaven to intercede for our definitive deification.

5. Conclusion

In a short overview, it is not possible to investigate every element of Patristic soteriology, but we can certainly see the abundant testimony of the Fathers about the redemptive work of Christ. Apart from some deviations (such as the theory of the "ransom" paid to the devil in some authors), the teaching of the ancient Church lays the foundation for an organic development of the biblical doctrine of Redemption. It contains the principal elements which will be discussed in a more systematic way in the Middle Ages and in modern theology. So, too, contemporary soteriology must integrate the precious heredity of the Fathers. The Patristic doctrine is focused principally on the Incarnation which is also a basis for treating the death of Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection.

The figure of Mary, ever-Virgin and Mother of God, is strictly linked to the saving work of the Incarnate Word. The principal basis for Her engagement is Her role as Second Eve

which sees Her as the enemy of the diabolical serpent: She, at the side of her Son, the Second Adam, who has crushed the head of the serpent. The "recapitulation of Adam" is completed by the "recirculation of Eve" in Irenaeus. The unique mediation of Christ does not exclude, but makes possible, the saving function of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces in the Greek theology of the eighth century. The Resurrection of Christ also finds its expression in the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin which renders possible Her universal mediation by intercession. In dependence on the unique merit of Christ, Mary has really merited our salvation. Thus, the Fathers of the Church manifest a solid foundation for mariology which can be further developed in the future, deepening the understanding of the Incarnation event, through contemplation of Mary under the Cross. The Redemption worked by Christ cannot be separated from the cooperation of His Mother called by Irenaeus causa salutis [cause of salvation].