I ask people why Jesus had to get strung up on a Roman cross and die. The typical answer I get from Christians is, “to save us from our sins.” I can tell they don’t know why and are just repeating what the preacher or Sunday school teacher told them. So why do Christians insist Jesus had to die? Why couldn’t God just shout from heaven, “I forgive you!” and be done with it? And why, oh why, isn’t it enough to simply be a good person? Let’s cut through the theological complexities to this: God is Holy.­  God is…