• Why did Jesus have to die?
Copyright © JULIAN KASTRATI, 2004 (PLEASE NOTE: footnotes are acknowledged but withheld for copyright reasons) It has been over two years now since Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ brought back to audiences of millions a key question — one of those t hat even made it to the cover of Time Magazine : ‘Why did Jesus have to die?’ [1] It is a known fact that during the past two thousand years, the Christian church has more or less arrived at firm definitions over who Jesus was. However, there has never been a cohesive understanding over why Jesus had to die. In this context, it is perfectly legitimate to ask, what was it that Jesus did for humanity on the cross? Was the cruel ordeal that he went through really necessary? If it was, what was the reason behind this extraordinary and sublime act? The majority of Christian scholars and theologians agree that Christ’s death was utterly decisive for humanity. However, different views have been suggested over the centuries as to the meanin