Book 5, Chapter 5 (The Grand Inquisitor)
Endlessly debated: is Ivan's poem a critique of Catholicism, of all institutional religion, or a defense of Christ through silence?
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From The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Passages that have provoked theological, philosophical, and political debate since publication.
Book 5, Chapter 4 (Rebellion)
Ivan's catalog of child suffering has been called the most powerful statement of atheism ever written by a Christian author.
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The 'breath of corruption' from Zosima's body - Dostoevsky's deliberate scandal against hagiographic expectations.
Read in Books4Free →Book 11, Chapter 4 (A Hymn and a Secret)
Ivan's secret plan for Dmitri's escape - debated as moral compromise or active love.
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