Apostate Christian Apostasy

Even as Judaism adopted non-Biblical concepts concerning Satan and the demons, apostate Christians elaborated on unscriptural ideas.  The Anchor Bible Dictionary states:  "One of the more extreme of ancient theological ideas is that God redeemed his people by paying Satan for their release."  this idea was propounded by Irenaeus (second century C.E.) It was further developed by Origen (third century C.E.), who claimed that "the devil had acquired a legal claim on men" and who regarded "the death of Christ . . .as a ransom paid to the devil." -History of Dogma by Adolf Harnack.

To quote: The Catholic Encyclopedia, "for about a thousand years [the idea that the ransom was paid to the Devil] played a conspicuous  part in the history of theology," and it remained a part of church belief.  Other Church Fathers, including Augustine (fourth-fifth centuries C.E.), adopted the idea that the ransom was paid to Satan. Finally, by the 12th century C.E., Catholic theologians Anselm and Abelard came to the conclusion that Christ's sacrifice was offered not to Satan but to God.

Next time: Medieval Superstitions

From the Watchtower magazine, 2002