“It strikes me as an odd comment for you to make.”
The atonement theory of the Incarnation is distinctly Western and scholastic and neither Orthodox nor patristic. It comes from +Anselm in the 11th century. It is, in the opinion of at least some Orthodox theologians, the origin of Western atheism.
To an Orthodox Christian, to say that Almighty God demanded the death of His Son to satisfy a blood lust grounded in the Father’s “Justice” is blasphemy. The death on the Cross, the Sacrifice was absolutely necessary on several levels, none of which had to do with satisfying the wrath of the Father.
Here’s why Christ died on the Cross:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-easter.html
That’s Orthodox Christianity, C.
I take the atonement theory from Abraham’s type of offering his son to the Father, then his hand stayed because God provides all that is required, including the Perfect sacrifice, in body, soul and spirit.
I associate the blood with the death of Christ on the Cross, although I believe there are also some significant issues associated with the ressurected body, discernible from the human spirit which are also addressed by the blood on the Cross.
His Perfect Justice and Perfect Righteousness I understand from the Arc of the Covenent and the Mercy Seat with two Cherubim facing one another.
These all preceded Anselm, but nonetheless fabulous types for our understanding of what He provides, don’t you think?
I noticed Cvenger's reply that the atonement is understood in pe-Anslem's terms through Abrahamic sacrifice, both of which are examples of how much the Jews and legalistic Latins misunderstood God revealed to us fully in Christ.
Once you get going from an incomplete premise or wrong platform, the rest of your journey will not lead you to the narrow path that leads to Truth.
The Protestants are a perfect exmaple of a wide path that is open to everyone (relativism) and to every kind of private interpretation and fanatasy, and a sure way of missing the mark.
Judaism and Anslem's atonement are something from a Friday the 13th hororr movie. No wonder atheism was born in the West. No wonder Europe is secular. Even America, where so many claim to be Christians, life is profoundly secular, violent and manterialistic. It's all (double) talk.