Endnote 3 – How Did Jesus Die for Our Sins?

The “substitutionary” or “satisfaction” understanding of the atonement, as it is commonly known, is first found in fully developed form in Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo? (1097). According to Anselm, humankind (because of our disobedience and sin) owes an infinite debt to God, which Jesus’ sacrificial death pays on our behalf, thereby making reconciliation (at-one-ment) with God possible.