The Lord of the Bible?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Macaluare

Judas betrayed Jesus to the Romans. Gollum betrayed Frodo for his own good.

To pick up on this point, isn't there a line of thought that Judas was a vital and necessary part of God's plan - that it was his betrayal which enabled Jesus to fulfil his mission on earth? Similarly, it might be said that Gollum's betrayal was a necessary ingredient in the fulfillment of Frodo's mission and that it was, in effect willed by Eru. Certainly it is held by many (the author included, I believe) that Eru had a "hand" in Gollum's "accidental" over-balancing at the Crack of Doom.