Contrasted theories. In the Scholastic period the idea of Christ as a ransom to Satan gradually died out, but the mystical, ethical, and judicial conceptions of his saving work all recur. The last two, presented in different forms in the course of history, proved to be the most persistent. They developed more and more into antagonistic and rival theories. The advocates of the ethical view regard sin primarily as ignorance, as ethical corruption, and as an evil power, while the champions of the judicial