Home›Open Questions›To whom, if to anyone, is the ransom of Mark 10:45 paid?Open QuestionsTo whom, if to anyone, is the ransom of Mark 10:45 paid?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "To whom, if to anyone, is the ransom of Mark 10:45 paid?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/to-whom-if-to-anyone-is-the-ransom-of-mark-10-45-paid.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). To whom, if to anyone, is the ransom of Mark 10:45 paid?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/to-whom-if-to-anyone-is-the-ransom-of-mark-10-45-paidCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-to-whom-if-to-anyone-is-the-ransom-of-ma, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {To whom, if to anyone, is the ransom of Mark 10:45 paid?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/to-whom-if-to-anyone-is-the-ransom-of-mark-10-45-paid}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionPatristic writers who named the devil were answered inside their own century by Gregory of Nazianzus, who held that paying the devil was an outrage and that paying the Father was scarcely better. Anselm denied that any claim existed to be bought out. No formulation of the recipient has ever obtained general assent, and the ransom vocabulary is used today by Christians who reject every mechanism proposed for it.What would resolve this Exegetical work establishing whether the ransom sayings were ever intended to carry a recipient at all, or whether the metaphor names a condition of captivity without implying a transaction. A finding either way would decide whether the recipient question is a real gap or a question the sources never posed.OpenNew Testament exegesis; patristics; the study of biblical metaphorF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionCross-Tradition ConnectionsQuestion OnRansom Theory of the Atonement, Doctrines Well-attested Source The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editionF. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.)tier 1SourcesThe Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised editiontier 1F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2005View the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year