This study investigates the nature and infinite value of the vicarious satisfaction accomplished by the Mediator Jesus Christ as articulated in the theology of the seventeenth-century Reformed scholastic theologian Francis Turretin. Interpreting the e...
This study investigates the nature and infinite value of the vicarious satisfaction accomplished by the Mediator Jesus Christ as articulated in the theology of the seventeenth-century Reformed scholastic theologian Francis Turretin. Interpreting the essence of atonement as ‘satisfaction’(satisfactio), Turretin situates his understanding within the framework of Reformed federal theology, viewing Christ’s obedience and death as one perfect and complete act of satisfaction that fulfills the penal demands of the divine law on behalf of the elect and freely imparts its benefits to them.
The intrinsic worth of this satisfaction, according to Turretin, arises from the ‘dignity’(dignitas) of the Mediator’s divine-human person. In light of the hypostatic union and the Reformed doctrine of the communicatio idiomatum, the infinite value of Christ’s mediatorial work derives from the infinite excellence of His person as the divine-human Redeemer. Consequently, the vicarious satisfaction possesses an actual, perfect, and all-sufficient efficacy.
Turretin further contends that while Christ truly suffered according to His human nature, His divine nature conferred infinite worth upon that suffering, so that within the unity of the Mediator’s person, redemption of infinite value was accomplished through both natures acting according to their respective properties. The perfect redemptive price thus achieved is imputed to the elect through faith, forming the foundation of salvation and embracing the entire ordo salutis, including both justification and sanctification.
Ultimately, Turretin grounds the infinite worth of the Mediator’s satisfaction in the fact that Christ is the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, and thus locates the redemptive work of vicarious satisfaction within the eternal decree of salvation established by the Triune God, centered in the Son as Mediator.
Keywords: Turretin, satisfcatio vicaria, pretium redemptionis, hypostatic union, perfect obedience