Catholics' thoughts on 'The Grand Inquisitor' (Dostoevsky)

[jscivias]

Hi, I am new here and not sure if I am posting in the right forum, but here goes.

I am currently reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, in particular the chapter called ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ (Synopsis here)

Now I am really curious of a catholic’s view on this particular chapter… so I am here asking. Thanks for reading

 

[TEPO]

Hi, I am new here and not sure if I am posting in the right forum, but here goes.

I am currently reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, in particular the chapter called ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ (Synopsis here)

Now I am really curious of a catholic’s view on this particular chapter… so I am here asking. Thanks for reading

I haven’t read the book. Maybe you could enlighten me a little on what Dostoevsky’s “Grand Inquisitor” means. Is it something like a typical inquisition, as in the Spanish Inquisition?

 

[Qoeleth]

Hi, I am new here and not sure if I am posting in the right forum, but here goes.

I am currently reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, in particular the chapter called ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ (Synopsis here)

Now I am really curious of a catholic’s view on this particular chapter… so I am here asking. Thanks for reading

It is a wonderful passage. It raises the question “How would we respond to Jesus today?”

The human institutions of the Church need always to be aware of the danger of becoming disconnected from Christ.

Well, hopefully if Jesus turned up today- we would accept Him and listent to Him.

But there is also a danger that this type of image can be abused- as every ultra-liberal tends to claim this authenticity to Jesus.

 

[jscivias]

Does the wikipedia link not work in my original post? I ask because I am curious of atheists who love Dostoevsky, although they generally do not agree with his religious belief. On a similar note, I wonder how Catholics view the story told by Ivan (about Christ who returns during the Spanish Inquisition and the Inquisitor tells Christ the [Catholic] Church no longer needs him). Hypothetically speaking if I were Catholic, I thought I’d be a bit distressed by this story, but maybe I understood it wrong…

 

[edward_george]

I am Catholic, and I am in seminary, and we read this section in a Russian Literature class at the seminary. I loved the passage, honestly. While I was researching my thesis on how loss of the view of the Incarnation can lead to fundamentalism or atheism (which share a philosophical framework as a result), I was able to read and appreciate this passage all the more. If we forget who Christ is, if we treat Him as a historical figure or just a book character or a name to attach to all those quotes from the Bible we like to throw to people, then we have no real faith. We will have a cartoon faith in a cartoon deity. We become what we worship, and if we worship a book character, we become just as dry and dusty as the pages on which he’s printed. But if we worship God, we become like unto Him. So if anything it’s a clear warning that we should not forget the Incarnation–that God became man. Some will use The Grand Inquisitor as a critique on institutional religion, but if anything it’s a call to ensure that religion doesn’t simply become an institution in our experience. Even the Church, founded by Christ Himself, can become in our experience a dry and lifeless institution. The real life of the Church comes when we recall that we can find Christ, a real, live person, there.

-ACEGC

 

[Lion_of_Narnia]

Fyodor Dostoevsky came out of a Russian Orthodox family, lost the faith by the time he became a young man, and after being sentenced to
Siberia for political activity, regained the faith after being handed a Russian New Testament by a Protestant evangelical (and studying it endlessly). This is his context, none of which predisposed him favorably to Catholicism. Hence, the “Grand Inquisitor” is hardly a accurate representation, far more allegorical than historical.

However, that said, the passage is still valuable in warning us against religious authority that actively contradicts the faith–but again, in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s rejection of “mystery” he offers something far too cerebral and brittle in it’s place.