The Grand Inquisitor

Renee P

22 February 2013

This week I had the challenge of reading and comprehending “The Grand Inquisitor” by Dostoevsky.  In it the ideas of free will and determinism are on display.  It is a parable told by a man to his brother which resembles that of Jesus’s refusal of Satan’s three temptations in Matthew 4:1-11.  The Grand Inquisitor is killing those who don’t follow his rules and in the middle of these killings, Jesus appears.  People are drawn to him and once the Grand Inquisitor realizes what is happening, he throws Jesus into jail.  

In the scene where the Grand Inquisitor is talking to Jesus in jail, we learn that the Grand Inquisitor has accepted the temptations of Satan; the same ones Jesus refused.  The Church has taken away peoples freedom in order for them to be happy.  They feel that freedom puts too much of a burden on everyone and thus the Church felt it best to take that freedom away.  Christ fought for this freedom when He was on earth and the Grand Inquisitor wants to make sure that the people don’t try to go back to His ways.  I don’t believe that the Grand Inquisitor made his decision out of vengeance, but from wanting to help those around him.  However, I don’t believe that this extreme case of determinism is the correct thing to do.  The idea and concept of it sounds good in theory, but in this case they are killing people because they aren’t following the rules is unfathomable to me.  Having free will may make people unhappy at times, but it also brings them great joy.  They shouldn’t have this option taken away from them completely.

Critchley, Simon. "The Freedom of Faith: A Christmas Sermon." New York Times 23 Dec 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.