The soteriology of St. Nicholas Cabasilas

This article by Grégoire Vincent offers an analytical study of the soteriology of Nicholas Cabasilas, a fourteenth-century Byzantine theologian, based on his two main works, the *Life in Christ* and his homilies on the Mother of God. The author examines the various soteriological figures present in this work — ransom paid to the devil, restoration of divine honor, victory over sin — and refutes the interpretation, defended notably by Lot-Borodine and Congourdeau, according to which Cabasilas is indebted to the Anselmian theory of satisfaction. Drawing on a semantic analysis of the original Greek, Vincent demonstrates that Cabasilian soteriology remains fully Eastern, centered on divine philanthropy and deification. The article also highlights the distinctive soteriological role granted by Cabasilas to the Mother of God, presented as a figure of a humanity victorious over sin even before the Incarnation.