13 - Leo the Great

Summary

Leo’s theology of justice informed his administration and the development of an ecclesiastical regime based on equity. Humanity had inherited the sin of Adam and received the punishment of death. Because the original sin had been voluntary, justice had been served through equitable principles. Likewise, the Incarnation of Christ redeemed humanity through the same human substance by which the “universal captivity” of the human race had come about. The same human nature that had sinned in Adam was restored in Christ, whose intermingling of the human and the divine healed the fallen human race. Christ’s perfect justice paid the debt that humanity owed because of original sin. This equitable process preserved human dignity by acknowledging that individuals were flawed but rational decision-makers. It transformed humanity into the divine in two ways: the payment of Adam’s debt restored immortality to human beings, and the internal logic of the narrative of redemption reflected divine rationality. Restored in Christ according to this plan for redemption, human beings approached perfection when the rationality of justice unfolded in the context of equity and human freedom.