More than twelve centuries before this, the same dogma was proclaimed in the words of the Nicene Creed, "who for us men and for our salvation, came down, took flesh, was made man; and suffered. "And all that is thus taught in the decrees of the councils may be read in the pages of the New Testament.
(d) These ideas retained their force well into the Middle Ages. But the appearance of St. Anselm's "Cur Deus Homo?" made a new epoch in the theology of the Atonement.
But it may be observed that the truth which they contain is already found in the Catholic theology of the Atonement. That great doctrine has been faintly set forth in figures taken from man's laws and customs. It is represented as the payment of a price, or a ransom, or as the offering of satisfaction for a debt. But we can never rest in these material figures as though they were literal and adequate. As both Abelard and Bernard remind us, the Atonement is the work of love.
I do find it a hoot that the Catholics try to say, "Well this is what the Protestants also believed." I can find NO writings on Protestants altering the western view of the atonement. The atonement was a price that had to be paid for our sins.
HD, you'll find this post interesting apropos of your comments:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1757380/posts
It may be safely said that this is precisely what has come to pass. For the theory put forward by Anselm has been modified by the work of later theologians, and confirmed by the testimony of truth.
*Hmm, I guess you neglected to copy and paste that...
I'm shocked :)
In any event, that is how Doctrine develops in the Church established by Jesus and guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit He sent upon it.
There was an Original Deposit of Faith and the Holy Spirit guides us into a deeper understanding of that Original Deposit. It is just what one would expect from a Church that is living, not a moribund deracinated intellectual project frozen in the 16th century.