The Grand Inquisitor

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1880

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Poem Analysis

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Symbols & Motifs

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Symbols & Motifs

The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor himself is the main symbol of Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor.” The Grand Inquisitor symbolizes the Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church. The core values of the Church, as seen through the eyes of the Grand Inquisitor, are core values “miracle, mystery, and authority” (257). In other words, the Church embodies institutional authority, dogma, and the tension between the ideals of the Christian scriptures and the practical demands of human nature. According to the Grand Inquisitor, the Church represents not the teachings of Christ, but rather the rejection of Christ in favor of worldly power. The Church hierarchy asserts itself by manipulating the weaknesses of human nature and promising happiness to those who submit to its authority. The Grand Inquisitor tells Christ that the Church has abandoned the teachings of Christ in favor of those of Satan. The Grand Inquisitor thus becomes a symbol for the failures of organized religion, illustrating the potential dangers of an institution that claims to act on behalf of God while suppressing individual autonomy.

The Temptation of Christ

The Temptation of Christ, an episode from Christian scripture, serves a central and symbolic role in “The Grand Inquisitor.” The Temptation of Christ, as described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, describes Christ going into the wilderness after being baptized by John the Baptist. There, after Christ had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, Satan came and offered him three temptations, presented in varying orders depending on the source. When Satan tempted Christ to turn stone into bread to satisfy his hunger, Christ responded by quoting scriptural adage that man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God. In the second temptation, Satan took Christ to the top of the temple in Jerusalem and encouraged him to jump off, knowing that angels would save him. This would be a test of divine protection and a demonstration of Christ’s identity as the son of God. Christ again responded by quoting the scriptural warning that one should not put God to the test. Finally, when Satan offered Christ all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worshiping him, Christ commanded Satan to leave and reiterated that worship should be reserved for God alone.

In “The Grand Inquisitor,” the imposing figure of the Grand Inquisitor elaborates on the three temptations to explain why Christ was mistaken to reject Satan. If Christ had turned stones into bread, he would have gained the eternal gratitude of people, who will always honor those who give them sustenance. Though Christ justified his refusal with an appeal to more lofty human appetites, namely the desire to live virtuously, the Inquisitor counters that sustenance is the ultimate appetite: If people are not fed, they will seek to dismantle any institution or God that fails to provide for them, creating a regressive civilization. Moreover, if Jesus had simply thrown himself from the temple and therefore received the help of angels, he would have been exalted by all people and made into a worldly God. As a worldly God, he would have been able to exercise his rule over the earthly kingdoms, ensuring their redemption.

The Second Coming of Christ

The belief in the “Second Coming” of Jesus Christ is central in Christian theology, particularly in connection with eschatology, that is, the study of the end of the world and the final judgment of humanity. According to Christian mythology, the first coming of Jesus Christ occurred in antiquity, when Christ was born, spread his teachings, and finally died; in turn, the Second Coming belongs to a remote time in the future.

“The Grand Inquisitor” imagines the Second Coming of Christ occurring at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. But far from heralding a new era of faith, Christ is almost immediately and unceremoniously put under arrest by the Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisitor denies the need for a Second Coming at all, insisting that Christ has “no right to add anything to what you already said once” (250) and demanding to know why he has come to interfere with the actions of the Church. For the Grand Inquisitor, the Second Coming is undesirable because the Church has abandoned the teachings of Christ, recognizing that they are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature: In the world of the Grand Inquisitor, Christ is no longer relevant.