The
ransom theory of atonement is one of the main
doctrines in western
Christian theology relating to the meaning and effect of the death of
Jesus Christ. The first major theory of the
atonement, the ransom theory of atonement originated in the
early Church, particularly in the work of
Origen. The theory teaches that the death of Christ was a
ransom sacrifice, usually said to have been paid to
Satan or to death itself, in some views paid to
God the Father, in satisfaction for the bondage and debt on the souls of humanity as a result of
inherited sin.