Grand Inquisitor Part IV – The Third Test

In discussing  the parable of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, we come to the third and final temptation of Christ in the wilderness. The previous temptations where discussed in previous blogs. In regards to the third temptation, the Grand Inquisitor tells Jesus, “Had You accepted the third offering of the mighty spirit, You would have fulfilled man’s...
read more

Grand Inquisitor Part III – The Second Test

In Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, we see in the parable of the Grand Inquisitor the discussion between the Grand Inquisitor and Jesus on the latter’s tests in the wilderness. We have discussed the first test in a previous online blog. Now we look at the second test in which Satan tells Jesus to jump off the highest part of the temple for God will command his angels so that...
read more

Grand Inquisitor Part II: The First Test

As was stated in the previous blog Part I the Grand Inquisitor highlights the intent of God to give man his freedom in the anticipation that man in his freedom would choose to follow God. In regards to the first temptation, the Grand Inquisitor tells Jesus, “Turn them into loaves of bread and man will follow You like cattle, grateful and docile, although constantly fearful lest You withdraw...
read more

The Grand Inquisitor – Part I

The Grand Inquisitor Perhaps the most famous passage out of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov is the parable of the Grand Inquisitor.  Ivan, the unbelieving Karamazov brother tells the believing brother Alyosha a parable in which Jesus returns quietly back to this Earth. Those who see him recognize him and are irresistibly drawn to him. He reaches out his hands to people and those...
read more

Dostoevsky – Love Your Neighbor

Introduction When one thinks of a discussion on a theologian, one’s mind naturally goes to someone connected with the professional ministry or whose prime occupation was that of a theologian. We can throw out many names from Augustine to Martin Luther to John Calvin to Karl Barth. But we have also encountered others who have contributed immensely to Christian thought that were not...
read more

What Is Theology?

The simplest definition that I can come up with is this: Theology is the study of God. Most people are either scared, confused  or bored by the thought of theology. Some people visualize a theologian as an old man with white hair who has spent his life with his nose in the bible and various other  biblical texts so that they he might explain the weightier things of God to us laymen in easy to...
read more