Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Ransom

The price of release paid for a captive or slave — used of Christ's life given to free 'many'.

From Latin redemptio via Old French; translates Greek lytron (Mark 10:45) and antilytron (1 Tim 2:6).

Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Peter 1:18–19.

Origen and others speculated the ransom was paid to the devil; Gregory of Nyssa used a 'divine deception' version; Gregory of Nazianzus and later the West rejected a recipient altogether.

The stable point is liberation at real cost; the identity of any 'payee' is not stated in Scripture.

The 'ransom to the devil' idea was contested from early on and is not held by the historic churches today.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.