Dear one,
Recently I have begun rereading Dostoyevsky’s, The Brothers Karamazov; and once again I’ve wrestled with Ivan Karamazov’s (not Dostoyevsky’s) view of humanity. That view, manifest in Ivan’s “poem,” “The Grand Inquisitor,” is pessimistic, harsh, and scathing. According to Ivan, or rather, according to the Inquisitor, Christ has failed because He did not found His work upon miracle, mystery, and authority—a mistake the Inquisitor and the Inquisition would not make. Accordingly, Christ failed because He did not succumb to the Evil One’s temptations: to turn stone to bread, to escape suffering and pain, and to rule all the kingdoms of the earth by submitting to Evil (cf. Matthew 4:1-11).
That is, in order to be happy, human beings (Russians?) prefer miracle: they will follow anyone, who will provide for and satisfy their physical needs and wellbeing; they prefer mystery: they will follow anyone who will expiate the dark fears and guilt of the human heart; and they prefer authority: they will follow anyone who can unite all humanity as one flock, as one people. Such happiness can only be gained, so argued the Inquisitor, if human beings are denied the freedom of choice. Because Christ regularly granted freedom—and because humanity cannot bear the weight of freedom, as evident in their subjecting one another to great horrors—Christ failed.
Since the publication of The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80), politically Ivan’s views have proven insightful: through the course of the twentieth century, particularly but not exclusively as seen in Russia and Germany, when given democratic freedoms whole peoples and nations have chosen to follow those who subjugate them, denying them their hard-gained freedoms. However, Biblically and theologically Ivan’s read of Jesus’ temptations is errant: from the beginning and by design, we have been given choices and have unanimously, as one family, chosen un-freedom and its hellish horrors (like Auschwitz). By His obedience, including the Cross, Jesus has reestablished in Himself our freedom to choose what is good, right, just, and loving . Thus, freedom becomes not an escape from but the opportunity for giving to others. In this regard, I am reminded of Paul’s words:
“For you were called unto freedom; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for [self-desires], but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).
In a world plagued by coronavirus and racial injustices, may we use our Christ-given freedoms for the sake of others—not as license to acquire bread, assuage guilt, and/or dominate others, but as a license to sacrificially love.
Seeking freedom,
Stan