Re: Similarly

"Its not a sin when Ghod requires it of you that mankind be saved."

I understand where you're coming from, and it doesn't help that I think almost all Christians misunderstand the concept too.

But I think of it more as allowing an alcoholic to hit rock bottom, in the hope that when they recognize the consequences of their own actions they will finally decide to change.

Thus, when the people realize that their appetite for (collectively) self-harming behavior is so great that they would even murder the perfect person who has never done any harm to anyone but has always helped others, hopefully the people will finally determine to change their ways and be better people.

That may mean that the murder was necessary to God's plans (necessitated by human error), but it does not mean that the people are not guilty of that murder. However, it is also an error to dwell on one's past guilt, or to dwell on the past guilt of others. God and God alone has the right to hold his murderers responsible, and he has forgiven them. Therefore, anyone who wants to hold Christ's killers responsible is sinning against God - and also against themself, as every human who ever lived or will live is responsible for Christ's death (according to Christian theology).

Of course, one problem remains: A great many people haven't learned a damn thing from Christ's death, and that includes the great majority of those who think they are his followers.