Russian Life & People Digest
Question by : Did Dostoevsky believe in God?
I know he questioned the existence in God, but in the end, did he believe that God doesn’t exist? Did he eventually believe in Christianity?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Archangel_26
Absolutely he was a religious man but not obsessed.
Read all the answers in the comments.
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titians says
It is well known that Dostoyevsky had a conversion experience while he was in prison in Siberia, that led him toward more orthodox and more conservative views of God and Christianity during the later part of his life. The shift in the themes in his work reflect this.
"stevelong" has posted a comment with a worthwhile link to a well-written article exploring D's views on God and Christianity. The article comes to much the same (though far more scholarly) conclusion that I did after recently reading "The Brothers Karamazov," which is considered by many to be Dostoyeversky's pinnacle of literary achivement. That he believed in God seems clear, and that the God he believed in was the God of Christianity. However, it should be clear that in the context of the culture and history of the time, Dostoyevesky would have been influenced heavily by the Russian orthodox church. His view of God and Jesus Christ would undoubtedly conform more closely to 19th century Russian Orthodox views than with modern evangelical Christian views, in areas where those theologies diverge.
Dostoyevsky has had a lot written about him. There are lots of good books and web pages covering this subject; see stevelong's comment, and check out the Dostoyevsky article on Wikipedia.
contat says
You guess. He was both an intellectual and a liberal. I'd say the odds are that he was an un-believer.
yert says
Yes Dostoevsky believed in God. At first, however, he was a strong supporter of Communism and, as a result, atheism. This view can be seen in his earlier novels, such as Poor Folk. Eventually, however, he was arrested as a revolutionary and sent to Siberia. On his way out, as the group was leaving, an unidentified man handed him a Bible. Thus in the Siberian exile camp his only possessions were his clothes and that Bible. During his time at the camp his views shifted dramatically and he became a strong Christian. The time at the camp served as the impetus for the eventual writing of his most well-known work, Crime and Punishment. Some of his other works with a Christian message would include The Idiot, which seems to be a sort of allegory for if Christ came back during his time and how he would interact with the court behavior in Europe and Russia (The title figure prince is the Christ-like figure). Eventually he wrote his final, and arguably best, work The Brothers Karamazov. It is arguable that the three sons in this novel represent the three "minds" within Dostoevsky and his constant inner debate. In the end, however, he strongly embraces a mystical form of Russian Orthodoxy.
Despite being a Christian, however, one must understand his views may not have been as "orthodox" as the various churches allow. This seems characteristic of the great russian writers. For instance, Tolstoy, though a Christian as well, was a unitarian (denied the Trinity). Exactly what Dostoevsky's views were is uncertain. What is known is that he was a confessing Christian during the majority of his adult life, though, as I mentioned, his earlier works exhibit an atheistic (and largely communist) point of view.
In the English Speaking world, particularly Britain, there is a sort of "cult of Dostoevsky" which, while not really worshipping him, consists of Academic and Educated Christians who are obsessed with the writing of Dostoevsky. Oddly, many of them do not read russian and so rely upon translation exclusively.
Sanford says
Yes. In his novel The Devils, Fyodor Dostoyevsky introduces us to Kirillov, a man obsessed with the notion of man-godhood: the idea that there is no God and that in order to express his self-will he is bound to shoot himself and to be the only one to do so simply of his own free will. “I am bound to express my unbelief,” he argues with Stavrogin, another desperate man whose loss of faith makes him tormented and dangerous. “No higher idea than that there is no God exists for me. All man did was to invent God so as to live without killing himself. I am the only man in universal history who for the first time refused to invent God.”
Kirillov asks Stavrogin to imagine three crosses side-by-side on a rugged hillside in the middle of the world. Hanging on one of the crosses there is a man with an other-worldly faith who says to another, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise.” The day comes to a close and both men die finding neither paradise nor resurrection. This man was supposed to be the God-man for whom the world was created and yet nature’s laws do not even allow His miracle to continue. Kirillov writes, “If the laws of nature did not spare even Him, if they did not spare their own miracle, and made Him live in the midst of lies and die for a lie, then the whole planet is a lie and is based on a lie and a stupid mockery. So the very laws of the planet are a lie and a farce of the devil. What then, is there to live for?”
Kirillov conducts a grand metaphysical experiment in which he decides to kill himself in order to master both life and death, and thus become God. Kirillov’s metaphysical suicide results in his actual death; Christ’s sacrificial death results in eternal life through resurrection. As Dostoyevsky shows, the two are exact opposites. Kirillov’s gesture is empty and unable to vanquish death or time or to conquer eternity. Like all suicide, Kirillov’s is ugly, even though it could be perceived as lofty among those who, like him, have killed themselves, too.
Dostoevsky reveals through Kirillov that suicide is atheism exemplified—simultaneously denying the true God and putting oneself in His place. Most people probably don’t navigate the complex metaphysical maze that Kirillov did before killing themselves—they are more likely in a confused emotional state and unable to organize their thoughts that way. In their violent deaths, they nonetheless “put themselves in the place of God,” as Russian theologian and philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev notes, since each of them considers him- or herself to be “the sole master of life and death.”
Mia says
He was always a theist who questioned (even in his latter years he had exchanges with others of a questioning and struggling with belief nature at times) but remained intensely theistic. He was Russian Orthodox.
NewlyBorn says
Not really… but Tchaikovsky did…
✝Shay says
Quote by Dostoevsky: “The West has lost Christ and that is why it is dying; that is the only reason.”
Anthony says
Dostoevsky has been accused of wanting to turn Russia into one huge monastery. So yes, I would say he was religious.
its jael, shaken not says
yes, yes and yes he did 🙂
he was all about the saving "grace " of christ.