Dostoevsky's portrayal of the Catholic Church during the Inquisition is a plea for the power of pure faith, and a critique of the tyrannies of institutionalized religion.
This is an except from the Brothers Karamazov which stands alone as a statement of philiosophy and a warning about the surrender of freedom for the sake of comfort.I haven't read much by Dostoyevsky which I've always considered above and beyond me. And so, the sleek thinness of the book allowed me to be less intimiated. I read the whole book, without reading the intro, just to see how it would go. I found that the seperate sections were very specific and I was able to follow Dostoyevsky's line of thought for once. His use of using the characters to represent political and social issues,...
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The 'Grand Inquisitor ' is the central chapter of Dostoevsky's great work , "The Brothers Karamazov". In it the brother of intellect Ivan tells a story to the saintly Karamazov brother, Alyosha. He tells of how Jesus came once to Spain in the time of the Inquistion .He tells how Jesus performed a series of miracles which caused the people to cry out for him. He tells how the 'Grand Inquisitor ' whose exposition fills a good...
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This book is a collection of select chapters from "The Brothers Karamazov."There is a lengthy introduction that explains in detail the author's philosophy and how it is revealed in each of the four chapters presented here."The Brothers Make Friends" is simply here to introduce the two brothers Ivan and Alyosha. Ivan is the Europeanized lover of science, and Alyosha is the young Romantic. Dostoevsky uses his characters as representatives...
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This is the best short piece I've ever read. This fictional dialogue between the head of the inquisition and Jesus is more than just a metaphorical commentary on the debate over whether or not humans willingly give up their existential freedom in order to avoid the sometimes awesome responsibility that accompanies it. Dostoyevsky's classic also serves as a powerful critique of institutional religion and, by implication, all...
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