Analysis Of Dostoevsky And Kierkegaard 's ' The Grand Inquisitor '

Many people would agree that without faith, the world would be in chaos. The book Christian Foundation by Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart gives an interpretation on faith in our time. Many people would question the definition of faith. Faith is a gift, which is given by God to have trust in him and belief in him. This book is a great entry in anyone's life that has speculation on his or her own faith. The book has many ways into understanding ones own religion. It discusses the Bible, Jesus, Church, God's existence and Images of God. All of these chapters helped me get a better interpretation of what my religion entailed.

When discussing faith is it important to look at the word closely and understand its meaning. The basic definition of faith is “confidence or trust in a person; and belief that is not based on proof” (Random House… 693). Whether someone puts their faith in a person or a religious being, faith can be simplified as having

Faith, defined as a strong belief in something which cannot be proven, has been argued over countless generations. Still, even without proof, individuals worldwide hold true to their faith each day. After studying faith and religion in texts written by scholars with varying backgrounds, it is easy to see faith is something which is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s “on the Future of Religion,” demonstrate both similarities and differences

Faith is a state of mind through which goals, desires, plans and purposes are interpreted into spiritual equivalent and transferred it to infinity intelligence. Everything can be achieved if you believe in yourself.

Faith is accepting what you are taught or told without trying to prove or disprove it, rather than discovering it through experience. Those who believe in God have faith. It has not been proven that God exists; similarly, it has not been proven that humans are kind, honest, and good by nature. Young Goodman Brown is a character in "Young Goodman Brown," who leaves his known world in Salem village and travels an unknown road in a dark forest in the middle of the night, a common motif in literature better known as the Hero's journey, and is faced with obstacles. He must decide if he will carry his journey out till the end, or turn back and not learn the truth about himself and other

My people regard themselves to being committed and having faith in a particular religion, but what does this mean exactly? To some people, it’s this expectation to take this leap into the unbelievable and if they didn’t they would be criticized or perhaps in less developed regions executed. Apprehension towards God is simply not even a question in some of these regions since their lives depend on it. With reasons like this, it seems to me that religion in itself is a sham to create this false sense of entitlement to the world as well as an unfair hope of an afterlife, so to me I can’t believe in faith based religion. In theory much like love, faith is this grand idea that someone could love something for no apparent reason other than to just to be infatuated with it. This couldn’t be farther from the truth though as no one in this world does something for nothing. There is always a motive to any one person’s actions whether for greed or self-comfort. It’s also possible that I have the whole idea wrong, since I’ve never been able to remove this discomfort that there is nothing more to life than to just be here.

Kierkegaard: I concur; it cannot be argued that faith is not central to our lives. Yet it most certainly is something inherently and undeniably passionate. It requires a leap of faith; a refusal to use any kind of rationale or reasoning as to why you should or should not have faith in such an impossibility.

In “The Grand Inquisitor” written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky focuses on free will of humans being given up in exchange for a more secure “free will”. Ivan reads aloud a poem he wrote in which Christ is reborn and goes to Spain, and there he is healing the sick. After healing the sick and a dead child, the Cardinal Grand

What is faith? Is it a feeling, a thought, or a concept? As Martin Luther said in his book Freedom of a Christian, faith is “God’s work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God.” When one thinks of faith, they maybe think about their personal relationship with God and the unconditional love He has. “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” The Word of God cannot be interpreted by any works but only by faith. Martin Luther had stated that, “It is clear that, as the soul needs only the Word of God for its life and righteousness, so it is justified by faith alone and not any works.” (Janz, A Reformation Reader, pg 109)

The Grand Inquisitor is a chapter in Dostoyevsky’s classic novel “The Brothers Karamazov.” The Greater novel itself is a philosophical debate on God, free will, human nature and morality written by Dostoevsky over 2 years and published in 1880. As with all of Dostoyevsky’s novels it is set in a modernizing Russia and it is a deep psychological study of faith and reason, as well as the doubt, psychology, moral decisions and the thought processes that occur during man’s journey to enlightenment and greater awareness. Although The Brothers Karamazov itself is a work of art and one of the greatest novels ever written the true genius of “The Grand Inquisitor” chapter is that

This demonstrates how punishment defines people as self-serving. When the Grand Inquisitor steps out people immediately stop worshipping Jesus and cower in fear. People act in their own self-interest; they do not act because they love the Grand Inquisitor or because they do not love Jesus, but instead because they do not want to be hurt. They act to avoid punishment. This supports Machiavelli’s theory that fear is better than love because fear allows for the people to be kept in line, as the Grand Inquisitor has done. According to the Grand Inquisitor and the Prince punishment defines the citizens as self-serving since the people in both texts follow the ruler and the law that directly affects their own well-being.

One of the most important characteristics of faith that Kallistos Ware highlights is the idea that much, if not all, of one’s relationship with God, is based off of instinctive feelings as opposed to other feasible elements. As Ware states, “Faith is not the supposition that something might be true, but the assurance that someone is there.” Faith in God, as Ware explains in this quotation, is not merely believing in God due to elements of scripture or teaching, but is instead something that occurs after personal experiences that provide a basis for the presence of God in one’s life. Additionally, these personal experiences not only need to occur, but also need to be interpreted and attributed to God. However, this can be difficult for many,

   Dostoevsky makes a strong case against Jesus in "The Grand Inquisitor": Jesus did not love humanity sufficiently to care for the greater good of the race.

What is faith? Scripture tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV) Faith means trusting that various situations will provide results best suited to help us in some way during our life. I’m sure others may have a different opinion; however, throughout my life, that has been the most accurate description.

What is faith? Faith is something different to everyone. If you asked a hundred different people, it is possible that you would get many diverse answers. Religious faith and non-religious faith are two very distinct terms. Faith holds an extremely complex meaning when discussing it in the context of religion. Faith is a belief. That holds true to every religious and non-religious person. Every faith involves a decision. It is not about what we claim to believe, but what we actually do believe, that is true faith. Throughout this paper, I am going to discuss Christian faith, how it pertains to daily life and Christianity as a whole. I also intend to delve into George W. Forell's discussion of Christian faith and analyze and