Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces the salient features of Dostoevsky's religious thought in its prophetic engagement with modernity, and explores the relationship between prophecy and poetics in his art. It explores the remarkable meditation on the problem of meaning in history expressed in "The Grand Inquisitor". The book discusses the role played by the book of Revelation in Dostoevsky's art particularly in "The Grand Inquisitor", where several significant references to the biblical text are explicitly made. It also subjects to critical scrutiny the professed motivation underlying the Grand Inquisitor's solution to the problem of justice: his "love of humanity". Dostoevsky's portrayal of the silent Christ in "The Grand Inquisitor" might well be the most dramatically prophetic moment of his art.