Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor"

Paper Summary:

This paper relates the plot of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" in which Christ comes back to earth in Seville at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. He is recognized, performs a number of miracles and is then arrested by Inquisition leaders and sentenced to death. The author points out that the story sets the person of Christ against the church, particularly against persons within the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The paper asks the question, "Can we draw a parallel to the modern evangelical church that aligns itself with the Republican Party and the war on terrorism?"

From the Paper:

""The Grand Inquisitor" is in a way a lamentation of the course the organized church has chosen. Having a number of fast days annually set aside for lamentation is not something that would be generally encouraged within modern Christianity. We are pre-occupied with our creature comforts and want a 'feel good' faith, so tend to avoid discussions that remind us of our sins (individual and collective) or pain. The journey of the Church (Roman Catholic and others), with its individual and collective sorrows could be lamented. "Lamentations 3:39-42 says, "Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?""

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