One of many 'side-tracks' that Dosty takes in "Brothers K". Fascinating. Does it allow us to see where "Brothere K." will go ultimately? You decide.

SPOILERS AHEAD
The Grand Inquisitor by Russian author and philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky is one of, if not the best book on religion. In this book the plot is fairly simple it’s about Jesus imprisoned by an Inquisitor who lectures him about giving mankind free will and releases him after his lengthy lecture. When I first picked up the Grand Inquisitor I chose it because I saw the name Dostoyevsky printed on the front cover and the angry looking old man on the cover, eager to know what treasure was hidden in this book I read the first few pages and became automatically attached to it. After the first few pages in I knew this book was going to be good especially since the author was
Dostoyevsky I had a high expectation for the book and the book and story surpassed my expectations. The Grand Inquisitor is a story that is actually a chapter from the brother’s Karazamov in that chapter two brothers are meeting up together and the older named Ivan starts talking to his younger brother Alyosha about the possibility of the existence of God. After a few comments back and forth Ivan introduces his brother to a poem he was working on called The Grand Inquisitor and asked Alyosha if he is interested in hearing it and Alyosha agrees. The poem starts off in a town in Spain where Christ is back on Earth and he’s going around healing people and performing miracles however a cardinal comes over to the town and orders his guards to arrest Christ. Later that evening the Cardinal known as the grand inquisitor goes to Christ’s cell and starts lecturing him about why he can’t allow him to perform his works on Earth because it doesn’t go well with what the church is trying to teach. He continues to lecture Christ by reminding about the time he rejected three temptations from the devil which secured free will for mankind. The inquisitor starts talking about how he disagrees with what Christ did because giving mankind the power of free will, they will as humans always fall into the hands of evil, they as humans would naturally choose evil over good. The Inquisitor says that instead they should be ruled with an iron fist they need some form of a supreme leader and that is what he was trying to accomplish as an inquisitor and that is why the church was secretly performing the works of Satan not because it is evil but because they believe it is just. After the inquisitor finished Christ walked up to him and kissed him then the inquisitor set him free and told him to never return again. Throughout the process of reading this story, I grew an interest to Christ because throughout the book he showed nothing more than one emotion, which is love. In the story, he heals the sick and he hears what the inquisitor has to say without interrupting once and at the end despite the awful things the inquisitor says he kisses him at the end. The book did a great job of sharing themes through conversations that the characters have with each other such as the free will conversation that was especially interesting because I could connect with that theme why free will when all mankind would do is choose evil and also the conversation between Ivan and Alyosha about the existence of God. My final opinion of this book is that it is amazing and it is a must read the book dives into religion and philosophy and it comes out as a legendary chapter I believe this book is one of the best books in the world. This book was strong in all points and had no visible errors, the only thing is that if it was possible I would decrease the length of the conversation between the brothers. This book is similar, in my opinion, to beyond good and evil so if you do like this I recommend beyond good and evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.This book doesn’t have a movie yet but even if it did I recommend reading the book instead, it’s better.

the devil works hard but the catholic church works harder

Wow - there is quite a bit of truth in here!

Dostoyevsky continues to impress me with both the depth of his subjects and the eloquence with which he explores them:

"There exists no greater or more painful anxiety for a
man who has freed himself from all religious bias, than how he
shall soonest find a new object or idea to worship. But man seeks
to bow before that only which is recognized by the greater
majority, if not by all his fellow-men, as having a right to be
worshiped; whose rights are so unquestionable that men agree
unanimously to bow down to it. For the chief concern of these
miserable creatures is not to find and worship the idol of their
own choice, but to discover that which all others will believe
in, and consent to bow down to in a mass. "

I read this in The Brothers Karamazov, and ranked it separately because this scene is deserving of its reputation. Its parent book is still worth reading, but it's very tedious.

a wake up call people. only appreciated by the sincerity of youth i guess. people obey to the inquisitors of their time. but will not aknowledge. i was so impressed when i read this that i took a train to seville the same year to see the place myself.

Es uno de mis libros favoritos, lo he releído mil veces y no deja de sorprenderme.

De lo mejor que ha escrito Dostoievski sin lugar a dudas.

Eine für mich schwierig zu verstehende Wortwahl, dafür aber ein sehr interessantes Gedankenexperiment, das sein Ziel allemal erreicht, darzustellen, wie die (katholische) Kirche in ihrem wachsenden Fanatismus dazu kam, Jesus selbst aus ihren Handlungen auszuklammern und zu meinen, sie hätten seine Anfänge weitergeführt und perfektioniert. Es dient gut als eigener moralischer Spiegel, sodass man sich fragt: Inwieweit akzeptiere ich Jesus als den Messias und bin ich bereit, ihm zu folgen, ungeachtet der Fehltritte der christlichen Institutionen um mich herum? Wenn ich alle Freiheit von Jesus bekommen habe, bin ich bereit, mich in dieser Freiheit für ihn zu entscheiden?

Esta bien pero no hay que fliparse tampoco

Ivan was spitting

This is an excellent selection of key sections of the novel. The juxtaposition of "The Grand Inquisitor" and "The Russian Monk" highlights how the life and teaching of Father Zossima serves as a reply to the concerns Ivan expresses about God.

Cinque stelle per Dosto e la traduzione.
Una in meno per tutto il resto