Redemption’s Godward Reference In the early and medieval church many Fathers—among them such luminaries as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Basil, the two Gregories, Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascas, Hilary, Rufinus, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, and as late as Bernard and Luther—contended that Christ’s death as a ransom was paid to Satan who then released his hold upon God’s elect.