The necessity of Christ's atonement is biblically defensible; Jesus's Gethsemane prayer implies there was no other way to redeem fallen humanity

Winger notes the question enters hypothetical territory about all possible redemptive scenarios. He argues that Jesus in Gethsemane ('if there is any other way, let this cup pass') implies there was in fact no other way given the state of humanity and the redemptive plan at that moment. Therefore asserting that God needed Christ's sacrifice is a biblically defensible position.