Well, Cyril of Alexandria, the arch-enemy of Nestorianism, espoused something very close to penal substitution...
Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444): The Only-begotten was made man, bore a body by nature at enmity with death, and became flesh, so that, enduring the death which was hanging over us as the result of our sin, he might abolish sin; and further, that he might put an end to the accusations of Satan, inasmuch as we have paid in Christ himself the penalties for the charges of sin against us: ‘For he bore our sins, and was wounded because of us’, according to the voice of the prophet. Or are we not healed by his wounds? Cited in Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach, Pierced For Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2007), p. 180.
Greek text: γέγονε δὲ ἄνθρωπος ὁ Μονογενὴς, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ φυσικῶς ἐνεχόμενον πεφόρηκε σῶμα, καὶ κεχρημάτικε σὰρξ, ἵνα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀνατλὰς τὸν ἐξ ἁμαρτίας ἡμῖν ἐπαρτηθέντα θάνατον, καταργήσῃ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ παύσῃ 68.296 λοιπὸν ἐγκαλοῦντα τὸν Σατανᾶν, ὡς ἐκτετικότων ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ τῶν εἰς ἁμαρτίαν αἰτιαμάτων τὰς δίκας· «αἴρει γὰρ ἡμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται,» κατὰ τὴν τοῦ προφήτου φωνήν. Ἢ οὐχὶ τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν; De adoratione et cultu in spiritu et veritate, Liber III, PG 68:293-296.
Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444) commenting on Luke 9:44-45: The mystery of the passion may be seen also in another instance. For according to the Mosaic law two goats were offered, differing in nothing from one another, but alike in size and appearance. Of those, one was called “the lord:” and the other, the “sent-away.” And when the lot had been cast for that which was called “lord,” it was sacrificed: while the other was sent away from the sacrifice: and therefore had the name of the “sent-away.” And Who was signified by this? The Word, though He was God, was in our likeness, and took the form of us sinners, as far as the nature of the flesh was concerned. The goat, then, male or female, was sacrificed for sins. But the death was our desert, inasmuch as by sin we had fallen under the divine curse. But when the Saviour of all Himself, so to speak, undertook the charge, He transferred to Himself what was our due, and laid down His life, that we might be sent away from death and destruction. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, Homily 53, trans. R. Payne Smith (Studion Publishers, Inc., 1983), p. 234. See also the edition S. Cyril Patriarch of Alexandria, A Commentary upon the Gospel according to S. Luke, Part 1, trans. R. Payne Smith (Oxford: The University Press, 1859), pp. 239-240.
Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444) commenting on John 19:16-18: Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became a curse for us, according to the Scripture: For cursed is everyone, it is said, that hangeth on a tree. And accursed are we all, for we are not able to fulfil the Law of God: For in many things we all stumble; and very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, too, the Law of God says: Cursed is he which continueth not in all things thcd are written in the book of this Law, to do them, the curse, then, belongeth unto us, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement. Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all; and by the death of His own Body, purchasing the redemption of all mankind. See Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Vol. 48, trans. Thomas Randell (London: Walter Smith, 1885), Vol. 2, Book XII, Chapter XIX, p. 623.
Greek text: Τὸ δὲ ἐφʼ ὧπερ ἔμελλε σταυροῦσθαι ξύλον ἐπωμάδιον ἔχων πρόεισι λοιπὸν κατακεκριμένος ἤδη καὶ τὴν ἐφʼ αἵματι ψῆφον ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ παντελῶς ὑπομείνας κακῷ, καὶ τοῦτο διʼ ἡμᾶς. τὰς γὰρ τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν ἐπηρτημένας εὐλόγως ἐκ τοῦ νόμου δίκας εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐκομίζετο. «Γέγονε γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα,» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, «Ἐπικατάρατος γάρ φησι, πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου.» Ἐπάρατοι δὲ πάντες ἡμεῖς, τὸν θεῖον ἀποπληροῦν οὐκ ἀνεχόμενοι νόμον, Πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες, εὐολισθοτάτη τε πρὸς τοῦτο λίαν ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάλιν ὁ θεῖος ἔφη που νόμος «Ἐπικατάρατος ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσι τοῖς ἐγγεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τοῦ νόμου τούτου, τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτά·» ἡμῶν ἄρα, καὶ οὐχ ἑτέρων ἡ ἀρά. Οἷς γὰρ ἔγκλημα μὲν ἡ παράβασις, τὸ δὲ τοῦ διορισθέντος ἐξολισθεῖν εὐπετέστατον, αὐτοῖς ἂν εἴη καὶ τὸ εὐθύνεσθαι πρέπον. οὐκοῦν ἐπάρατος δι' ἡμᾶς ὁ μὴ εἰδὼς ἁμαρτίαν, ἵν' ἡμᾶς ἀπολύσῃ τῆς ἀρχαίας ἀρᾶς. Ἐξήρκει γὰρ τοῦτο παθὼν ὑπὲρ πάντων ὁ ὑπὲρ πάντας Θεὸς, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ τῆς ἰδίας σαρκὸς τὴν ἁπάντων λύτρωσιν ἐξωνούμενος. Commentarium in Evangelium Joannis, Liber XII, Caput xix, vv. 16-18, PG 74:649.
Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444) commenting on John 19:16-18: The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserts, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law. For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also, He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law, that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Vol. 48, trans. Thomas Randell (London: Walter Smith, 1885), Vol. 2, Book XII, Chapter XIX, p. 624.
Greek text: Ἐπικομίζεται τοίνυν, οὐ τὸν αὐτῷ πρέποντα σταυρὸν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἡμῖν ἐπηρτημένον τε καὶ χρεωστούμενον, ὅσον ἧκεν εἰπεῖν εἰς τὴν διὰ νόμου κατάκρισιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ γέγονεν ἐν νεκροῖς, οὐ διʼ ἑαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ διʼ ἡμᾶς, ἵν' ἡμῖν ἀρχηγὸς τῆς εἰς αἰῶνα ζωῆς εὑρεθῇ, καταλύσας διʼ ἑαυτοῦ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος, οὕτω καὶ τὸν ἡμῖν πρέποντα σταυρὸν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναλαμβάνει, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου κατάκρισιν ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατακρίνων, ἵνα πᾶσα λοιπὸν ἀνομία ἐμφράξῃ στόμα αὐτῆς, κατὰ τὸ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς μελῳδούμενον, τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἁμαρτίας καταδεδικασμένου. Commentarium in Evangelium Joannis, Liber XII, Caput xix, vv. 16-18, PG 74:649, 652.
Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444) commenting on John 19:19: For God's anger did not cease with Adam's fall, but He was also provoked by those who after him dishonoured the Creator's decree; and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were, then, accursed and condemned, by the sentence of God, through Adam’s transgression, and through breach of the Law laid down after him; but the Saviour wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under condemnation. For our sake He paid the penalty for our sins. For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the Psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has paid the penalty for us; for by His stripes we are healed, according to the Scripture. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Vol. 48, trans. Thomas Randell (London: Walter Smith, 1885), Vol. 2, Book XII, Chapter XIX, pp. 627-628.
Greek text: Οὐ γὰρ δήπου λελύπηται μὲν ἐν Ἀδὰμ διαπταίσαντι Θεὸς, οὐκέτι δὲ ἦν τοιοῦτος ἐν τοῖς μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἀτιμάζουσι τὸ τῷ κτίσαντι δοκοῦν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐφʼ ἑνὸς κατὰ πάντων ὁ τοῖς πλημμελοῦσιν ἐπηρτημένος ἐξετείνετο νόμος. Ἦμεν οὖν ἐπάρατοι, καὶ τῇ θείᾳ ψήφῳ κατακεκριμένοι, διά τε τὴν ἐν Ἀδὰμ παράβασιν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον διορισθέντος νόμου· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ καθʼ ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον ἐξήλειψεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, προσηλώσας τὸν τίτλον τῷ ἰδίῳ σταυρῷ, σαφῶς εὖ μάλα σημαίνοντα τὸν ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ θάνατον, ὃν ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν καταδεδικασμένων ὑπέστη ζωῆς. Ἐξέτισε γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων δίκας. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ πάσχων, ἀλλʼ ἦν ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν, ὡς Θεὸς, καὶ τῆς ἁπάντων ζωῆς ἀξιώτερος. Διά τοι τοῦτο, καθὰ καὶ ὁ Ψάλλων φησὶν, «Ἐνέφραξε μὲν ἀνομία πᾶσα τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς,» κατηργήθη δὲ τρόπον τινὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ γλῶττα, καταλέγειν ἔτι τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων οὐκ ἔχουσα. Δεδικαιώμεθα γὰρ, ἐκτετικότος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὰ ὀφλήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ· «τῷ γὰρ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν,» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Commentarium in Evangelium Joannis, Liber XII, Caput xix, v. 19, PG 74:656.
And I don't think the EO guy would want to accuse Athanasius of being a proto-Nestorian...
Athanasius (297-373): And Psalm 22, speaking in the Saviour's own person, describes the manner of His death. Thou has brought me into the dust of death, for many dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have laid siege to me. They peirced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones, they gazed and stared at me, they parted my garments among them and cast lots for my vesture. They pierced my hands and my feet- what else can that mean except the cross? and Psalms 22 and 69, again speaking in the Lord's own person, tell us further that He suffered these things, not for His own sake but for ours. Thou has made Thy wrath to rest upon me, says the one; and the other adds, I paid them things I never took. For He did not die as being Himself liable to death: He suffered for us, and bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression, even as Isaiah says, Himself bore our weaknesses. [Mt 8:17] So in Psalm 138 we say, The Lord will make requital for me; and in the 72nd the Spirit says, He shall save the children of the poor and bring the slanderer low, for from the hand of the mighty He has set the poor man free, the needy man whom there was none to help. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, trans. and ed. A Religious of C.S.M.V. (Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996), to which is appended a Letter of St. Athanasius to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms, pp. 100-101; Cf. also the translation provided in Athanasius, The Life of Anthony and The Letter to Marcellinus, trans. Robert C. Gregg (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), p. 105.
Greek text: ἐν δὲ τῷ εἰκοστῷ καὶ πρώτῳ τὴν ποιότητα τοῦ θανάτου ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Σωτῆρός φησιν· Εἰς χοῦν θανάτου κατήγαγές με· ὅτι ἐκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοὶ, συναγωγὴ πονηρευομένων περιέσχον με. Ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας μου, ἐξηρίθμησαν πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Αὐτοὶ δὲ κατενόησαν, καὶ ἐπεῖδόν με· διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον. Τὸ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας ὀρύττεσθαι, τί ἕτερον ἢ σταυρὸν λέγων σημαίνει; Πάντα ταῦτα διδάσκουσα προστίθησιν, ὅτι μὴ δι' ἑαυτὸν, διʼ ἡμᾶς δὲ ταῦτα πάσχει ὁ Κύριος. Καί φησιν ἐκ προσώπου πάλιν αὐτοῦ ἐν μὲν τῷ πζʹ· Ἐπʼ ἐμὲ ἐπεστηρίχθη ὁ θυμός σου· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑξηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ· Ἃ οὐχ ἥρπασα, τότε ἀπετίννυον. Οὐ γὰρ ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ἀπέθνησκεν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἔπασχε, καὶ τὸν καθʼ ἡμῶν θυμὸν διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐφʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐβάσταζε, λέγοντα διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου· Αὐτὸς τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβε· καὶ λεγόντων μὲν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ ἑκατοστῷ τριακοστῷ ἑβδόμῳ ψαλμῷ· Κύριος ἀντ αποδώσει ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ· λέγοντος δὲ καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν ἑβδομηκοστῷ πρώτῳ· Καὶ σώσει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν πενήτων, καὶ ταπεινώσει συκοφάντην, ὅτι ἐῤῥύσατο, πτωχὸν ἐκ χειρὸς δυνάστου, καὶ πένητα, ᾧ οὐχ ὑπῆρχε βοηθός. Epistola ad Marcellinum de interpretatione Psalmorum, §7, PG 27:16-17.
EO folk and Romanists alike love to level the charge of Nestorianism against those outside of their communions because it creates their own climate controlled comfort zone . . . it's better than a monastic retreat!
