Theological Reflections on the Death of Christ: Redemption and Divine Justice

Extract

[...] Thomas in the aforementioned question 46, article 1. We note the concrete turn of the expression 'to have trodden in his footsteps', but it is an image. Providing the captive with a reasonable ransom. The last verse of the quatrain is based on the image of the jail from which the prisoner must be delivered. Man is indeed 'captive' and the 'ransom' that Christ gives with his life allows the redemption of all sins. We find a similar formula in 'To France': ransomed with his own blood those who were crucifying him by his infinite and memorable Goodness'. [...]

[...] God therefore had the possibility ('absolute power') to 'deliver' man from the devil's claws, but he chose to leave him under the domination of the devil who is defeated by the Passion. This responds to justice. CONCLUSION Sonnet 28 is characterized by its abstraction, with the concrete only present once, in an imaginative way. The notion of justice is central, represented by God whose intentions are sometimes impenetrable. Therefore, the devout poet had to explain to his reader the reason why the Father lets the Son die. This poem, with its logical articulations, shows that the crucifixion redeems sin. [...]

[...] And Your mercy has pursued his steps, Divine mercy is often mentioned in the Bible (nearly 300 times in the 'Old Testament' 70 in the 'New Testament'. There is no incompatibility between justice and mercy: sin and injustice are erased by the sacrifice of the Son of God. The sinner who turns to Him can benefit from His mercy. In one of the notes accompanying the sonnet, La Ceppède cites the Theological Summa : « Your mercy, because man being unable to satisfy himself, God mercifully gave him his son as a satisfier. [...]

[...] It is about leading man to God by erasing (repairing) the original sin, 'the abominable fault'. The hemistich cut allows to put in value 'Adam', the responsible one. The adjective 'abominable', very strong to express detestation, is found in a number of religious texts, for example in the Psalms of David (Ps 14 :1) O all-powerful Monarch, it was not lacking in you In the laudatory apostrophe 'all-powerful Monarch', the adjective is important. The absolute power of God has been evoked in sonnet 26: 'You certainly could save the Christ' (v. [...]

[...] The noun 'power' refers to the idea of slavery expressed in verses 9 and 10 ('reduced [ . ] under his power'). TERCET 2 You have therefore taken Adam by justice. The last tercet completes the demonstration with the coordinating conjunction 'therefore' which marks the consequence. The poet addresses God, as he has already done a few times since the beginning of the collection2. The injustice of the devil is compensated by the 'justice' of God who takes away [ . [...]