Dostoyevsky's GRAND INQUISITOR may be the most profound work of literature penned in any time, place or language.Found at the center of his masterwork, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV,"The Legend of the Grand Inquistor" is dazzling, dangerous and terrifying exploration(approxiamtely 12 pp!)of deepest needs and fears of mankind. It's unparalled MYTH; and spiritual evisceration of CONSCIENCE--guardian and source of humanity's nature and freedom--wherein the individual soul WARS with God; the Devil;and himself for dignity and personal SALVATION(or existenital sanity).

The Inquisitor is THE ANTI-CHRIST. "The Legend" prophetically illuminates Biblical Mystery of THE THREE TEMPTATIONS with which Satan challenged Christ in the desert...to perpetually threaten, beguile and mock(?)mankind. It's impossible to more than hint the "fear and trembling" evoked by Dostoyevsky's TRIAL of TRUTH in defiance of Truth by Novus Ordo Seclorum "gods" man will worship (in their imagined self-apotheosis). Dostoyevsky is merciless allowing the voice of his arch-cynic,nihilist Ivan Karamazov to scorn humanity's struggle for survival in Goodness; over against would-be UBERMENSCHEN...like himself...agenda to pacify/enslave millions pretending to protect "the masses" from Freedom.To the power-hungry, Man's Freedom is cause of human misery(rather than signum and source of GREATNESS...love & goodness/will in choice)."WE SHALL ALLOW THEM EVEN SIN...THEY WILL ADORE US: Every sin will be expiated if...done with our permission..."

Staggering implications of these words profoundly stir with bitter truth and challenge.In our century we've witnessed CAPTIVE MINDS(so-called by Czeslaw Milosz)willingly slaughter...or consent to slaughter;enslave or inhumanly marginalize...millions. Nazi and Communist Totalitarians of our epoch are easy targets of rebuke. They had SUPREME COURTS proclaiming legal(physical; spiritual; psychological)massacre of millions,"if it is done with our permission." DOSTOYEVSKY is not for everyone. But for thinking men or women, he is a PROPHET as blessed and cursed as any who ever lived or "cried out in the desert."T.S. Eliot observed "men can truly bear only a little truth." Ray Bradbury noted GOODNESS IS A FEARFUL OCCUPATION."The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor"may be literature's greatest, if most painful examination of the Mystery of Man--made in God's Image--in Civilization's death stuggle against criminal intellectuals and power-driven, self-celebrated saviors who barter and betray Humanity for apotheosis in self-praise and others'blood.(10 Stars)

The Grand Inquisitor loves humanity but the question is: Is he misguided? The Grand Inquisitor is by no means a trivial person. According to Dostoyevsky most humans are by nature incapable of handling freedom, of taking care of their basic needs, of accepting the moral responsibility of conscience or of living with differences - we like to be sheep - apparently. "[...] Thee, what is to become of the millions and tens of thousands of millions of creatures who will not have the strength to forego the earthly bread for the sake of the heavenly? Or dost Thou care only for the tens of thousands of the great and strong, while the millions, numerous as the sands of the sea, who are weak but love Thee, must exist only for the sake of the great and strong? No, we care for the weak too. They are sinful and rebellious, but in the end they too will become obedient. They will marvel at us and look on us as gods, because we are ready to endure the freedom which they have found so dreadful and to rule over them- so awful it will seem to them to be free. But we shall tell them that we are Thy servants and rule them in Thy name. We shall deceive them again, for we will not let Thee come to us again. That deception will be our suffering, for we shall be forced to lie" (Dostoyevsky 8-9).

Dostoyevsky, in The Grand Inquisitor, arrives at this conclusion since his observations suggest that this has been the pattern of human behavior from the beginning of human history. Ti interpret the quote above, Dostoyevsky does believe there is a relatively small group (tens of thousands) of people who are different by nature and who can do for themselves, handle responsibility and conscience and not only live with difference, but even create it. Again, he appeals to experience, being able to cite these people in human history. When Jesus lands in Inquisition Spain, he is quickly arrested. He confronts Jesus for giving people inner freedom. Christianity proper was built for the few: only the minority go to Heaven because Christianity has very high standards: 'narrow is the way to Heaven' and 'it is easier for a candle to enter the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven' Yet, religion in general is catered to the masses, most of whom believe they are going to Heaven. There is a contradiction there, and Dostoyevsky zeroes in on that The Inquisitor proceeds to list three temptations that the Catholic Church has remedied. "From those questions alone, from the miracle of their statements, we can see that we have here to do not with the fleeting human intelligence, but with the absolute and eternal. For in those three questions the whole subsequent history of mankind is, as it were, brought together into one whole, and foretold, and in them are united all the unsolved historical contradictions of human nature" (Dostoyevsky 7).

To summarize the issues from the quote above: [1] First temptation: MIRACLE (Dostoyevsky 7). [2] Second temptation: MYSTERY (Dostoyevsky 10). [3] Third temptation: AUTHORITY (Dostoyevsky 14). According to the Inquisitor, the Church fills the people's need for a sense of unity. The Church has removed all temptations by being the conscience of the people. Do we really need the illusion or can and should we be able to think for ourselves? Where does Dostoyevsky REALLY stand on this issue? Read it and judge for yourself.

Miguel Llora

"The Grand Inquisitor" is a story embeded within THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. However, the story is "self-contained." Nothing is lost by reading it as a complete short story. In my opinion, "The Grand Inquisitor" is the greatest single story ever written. It's an interesting look at humanity, spirituality, and the church. If you are only going to read one more thing before you die, you must read "The Grand Inquisitor."
*This particular edition, however, seems to have some typos that were not caught by the proof-reader, but they're nothing very serious.