In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevski tells...
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In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevski tells the terrifying parable of the "Grand Inquisition." Christ is imagined as returning to sixteenth-century Seville, Spain. The Grand Inquisitor, acting for the church, marched him off to prison. He charges Christ with having placed upon humankind the unbearable burden of freedom. By resisting the Tempter in the wilderness, Christ made people miserable rather than happy.
By refusing to make visible his power, Christ laid upon people the necessity of choosing for or against God. People were sorely oppressed by this freedom, and the church was correcting Jesus' work. The church was assuming the burden of freedom and exercising in its place its own severe authority, relieving people of their responsibility to choose for or against God.
Dostoevski concluded his parable with these frightening words:
"And the people rejoiced that they were again led like sheep and that the terrible gift that brought them such suffering (freedom) was at last lifted from their hearts."
By refusing to make visible his power, Christ laid upon people the necessity of choosing for or against God. People were sorely oppressed by this freedom, and the church was correcting Jesus' work. The church was assuming the burden of freedom and exercising in its place its own severe authority, relieving people of their responsibility to choose for or against God.
Dostoevski concluded his parable with these frightening words:
"And the people rejoiced that they were again led like sheep and that the terrible gift that brought them such suffering (freedom) was at last lifted from their hearts."
