The Grand Inquisitor

Background

• Excerpt lifted from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
• About sons who hate their father
• The parable - The Grand Inquisitor
  • Ivan is perplexed at the worlds suffering (divine order amidst such chaos?)
  • Ivan tells the story to his brother Alyosha (a novice at a monastery)
  • Story set in the 16th c. during the inquisition

The Problem of Freedom

• Who does the Inquisitor represent?
  • The formal church
  • The governing politic
  • Any authority figure
• The anxiety of responsibility
  • The "problem" of freedom
  • Social chaos and disorder
• What Christ rejected, Inquisitor accepted

The First Temptation - Security

• The implication of "Thou's" refusal
  • Earthly bread vs...
  • Heavenly bread
• Obedient slaves for sacrificial elite
• Contrast to the Enlightenment innate freedoms

The Second Temptation - Proof

• The implication of "Thou's" refusal
  • Faith vs. miracle
  • Freedom to chose
  • The view of the masses
• The temptation on the cross
• "We" have corrected Thou's shortcomings

The Third Temptation - Unity

• The implication of "Thou's" refusal
  • Man longs for unity
  • Temptation 1 + 2 = Temptation 3
  • Bread + Proof = Unity
• History of tyrannical unity

Utopia?

• The masses without sin
  • The sins of the elect
  • The sacrifice
  • The implications
• The end
  • Divine Approval?
  • Divine Forgiveness?
  • Betrayal?

Humanities Resource of Mark Hunter