If our lives our part of a cosmic stage play:
There is one episode in particular to which Christianity draws his attention. The leading part in this was played, it is alleged, by the Author, who presents it as a brief epitome of the plan of the whole work. If we ask, “What kind of play is this that we are acting?” the answer put forward is: “Well, it is this kind of play.” And examining the plot of it, we observe at once that if anybody in this play has his feelings spared, it is certainly not the Author.
-Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, Ch.9