In a message dated 4/7/2004 3:47:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time, omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx writes: But I don't see how this could be taken to excuse the crime or to suggest that it never happened. In the Christian version of events, Jesus himself asks God to forgive the people who killed him, on the grounds that they didn't know what they were doing. So Jesus himself seeks to excuse the crime. Readings of Christ's death (Paradise Lost, for example) further gloss the matter by framing the death of Jesus as an essential part of God's plan for saving humanity from Satan. It is seen as a necessary sacrifice of atonement and fulfillment of prophecies. Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html