“There are three powers, three powers alone, able to conquer and to hold captive forever the conscience of these impotent rebels for their happiness – those forces are miracle, mystery and authority. . .for man seeks not so much God as the miraculous. And as man cannot bear to be without the miraculous, he will create new miracles of his own for himself, and will worship deeds of sorcery and witchcraft. . .Thou didst not come down from the Cross when they shouted to Thee, ‘Come down from the cross and we will believe that Thou art He.’ Thou didst not come down, for again Thou wouldst not enslave man by a miracle, and didst crave faith given freely, not based on miracles.”
- The Grand Inquisitor, speaking with Christ (Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)
No comments:
Post a Comment