Debating an atheist about evil is one thing, but how could we respond at the bedside of a dying child in the house of a desperate family? Dostoyevsky’s own son died at three years old, and interweaved in his Magnum Opus is a profound reflection on the result of tragedy––and how to keep tragedy from unraveling everything you care about.
The problem of evil is one of the most cited arguments against Christianity and the existence of God in the modern age. Dostoyevsky’s brilliance articulated a potent blistering assault on the existence of God through Ivan Karamazov, a character who is as brilliant as he is passionate. The sentiment, “God does not exist––and I hate him!” could summarize his views, and the views of many atheists. But is atheism really better equipped to deal with the cruel realities life gives us? Is a tragic optimism, or even a deep insurmountable joy despite the tears, an unjustifiable position? It seems that despite the rage against God, atheism is not an intellectually consistent nor emotionally satisfying answer to the problem of evil.
Within The Brothers Karamazov is a chapter so powerful, vivid, and shocking that it has since impacted the course of Western Civilization. The Grand Inquisitor declares that Jesus Christ has actually acted cruelly towards man for giving him free will, when he knows so many are too weak to follow Christ. Is that true? Does God expect too much from mere mortals? Are his rules, precepts and teachings simply too hard? Or are Christ’s commandments actually the gateway to a relationship with God? Perhaps even the road to virtue, even the destination of peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is about the journey rather than the destination.
The Brothers Karamazov (1880) is the pinnacle of Dostoyevsky’s literary and intellectual work. His critique of European Enlightenment ideas, including atheism, utilitarianism, socialism and utopianism, find their culmination in this profound tome. Dostoyevsky wrestles with the problem of evil, unlike in his previous major novels, and also perfects his summary of the problem of atheism: “Without God, anything is permissible.” Dostoyevsky also ventures forth into existential territory, asking and answering questions regarding the goodness of life in the face of suffering and whether free will is a gift or a curse. All of this and more in a riveting murder mystery, featuring love triangles and prison escapes, pious monks and the lowest sinners.