Not To Be Confused With
Christus Victor (victory over the powers) is an emphasis, not a rival to penal substitution; the early church and the New Testament hold both — Colossians 2 has Christ both cancelling the debt AND disarming the powers in the same breath.
Named by Gustaf Aulén (1931) for the patristic stress on Christ's triumph (Col 2:15; Heb 2:14; 1 John 3:8). The “ransom” and “fishhook” images of the Fathers belong here. It answers a different question than penal substitution — not “how is guilt dealt with?” but “how are we freed from bondage?”