The Grand Inquisitor

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About this book

Ivan describes an imagined poem to his brother, placing Christ in sixteenth-century Seville during the Inquisition. The crowd recognizes the visitor and gathers around him, while the Grand Inquisitor treats his return as a threat. Presented as an extract from The Brothers Karamazof and translated by H. P. Blavatsky, this work turns a religious encounter into a dramatic argument about belief and power.

The Inquisitor's reasoning presses on the cost of freedom: he claims that people long for bread, certainty and someone to direct their consciences. Miracle, mystery and authority become the means by which human choices can be controlled. The contrast between compassion and institutional command gives readers interested in philosophy and Christian thought a compact, unsettling account of the struggle between freely chosen faith and the promise of security.

About the author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was a Russian philosopher, novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.