Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) — the Dutch jurist who founded international law — reframes the atonement in governmental rather than strictly penal terms. God is not primarily a creditor (Anselm’s model) or a criminal judge (Calvin’s model) but a moral governor of the universe. God’s law requires that sin be punished — not because God’s personal honor demands it or because an abstract law stands above God, but because God’s role as moral governor of creation requires that the moral order be maintained. Christ’s suffering demonstrates the seriousness of sin and the cost of God’s forgiveness, enabling God to forgive without undermining the moral government of the universe. Grotius develops this partly against Socinus, who had denied any connection between Christ’s death and God’s justice. The Governmental theory is influential in Arminian theology (it avoids Limited Atonement by not requiring that Christ specifically bear the guilt of particular individuals) and in much Methodist and revivalist preaching.