Political Apocalypse: A Study of Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor

In this expertly crated book, Ellis Sandoz gives a thoughtful account of Dostoevsky’s “Legend of the Grand Inquisitor.” Sandoz pulls apart the Legend, giving it context and meaning in relation to The Brothers Karamazov, the novel in which the Legend appears, and to history. Sandoz’s keen sense for the author’s intent is seamlessly interwoven with Dostoevsky’s own correspondence and a comprehensive exploration of the political, theological, and philosophical atmosphere of pre-revolutionary Russia.
Dostoevsky has often been regarded as a prophet for foretelling the rise of totalitarian socialism in Russia. In 1879, desperately concerned for the future of his country, Dostoevsky declared, “a second tower of Babel stands in the place of the high ideals created by Christ. The sublime Christian view of human nature sinks down to the view of an animal herd and, under the banner of social love, shows entirely unconcealed its contempt for mankind.” Atheism and the coercive ideals of materialist socialism had nearly captured the minds and hearts of his countrymen. Dostoevsky believed that the whole of Russia’s future lay, consequently, with the Orthodox Church. Without that model of Christian love, Russia would surely fall into the hands of a government that had little regard for the men it would rule.