In “St. Peter and the Angel,” Levertov notes that divine revelation is only the first step.
Tag Archives: Grand Inquisitor
Facing the Terrors of Freedom & Joy
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "St. Peter and the Angel", Brothers Karamazov, Denise Levertov, Fyodor Dostoevsky Comments closed
The Stone Is Rolled–I’m Whole, I’m Held
Note: If you wish to receive, via e-mail, (1) my weekly newsletter or (2) daily copies of these posts, notify me at [email protected] and indicate which you would like. I promise not to share your e-mail address with anyone. To unsubscribe, send me a follow-up email. Spiritual Sunday The story of doubting Thomas is fertile ground for […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Doubting Thomas sort-of-sonnet", Brothers Karamazov, Doubt, doubting Thomas, Fyodor Dostoevsky Comments closed
Come, Holy Spirit
Pentecost Sunday Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz uses the occasion of Pentecost to explore the nature of faith in his poem “Veni Creator.” Although the apostles may have been filled with the Holy Spirit, what about those of us who don’t experience tongues of flame? Here’s Luke’s description of moment (Acts 2:1-4): When the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Gerontion", "Venite Creator", Brothers Karamazov, Czeslaw Milosz, Fyodor Dostoevsky, love, Pentecost, T. S. Eliot Comments closed
Zamiatin Anticipated Trump Cultism
Friday Having just reread Eugene Zamiatin’s dystopian novel We (1920) for the first time since encountering it in 1972 in a junior-level utopian literature class, I’m struck by how it captures the cult behavior of Donald Trump fans. The novel even features a protective wall. Although Zamiatin supported the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, by 1920 he […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged authoritarian states, Donald Trump, Eugene Zamiatin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, panopticon, We Comments closed
Does the GOP Love Big Brother?
Do Congressional Republicans flatter Trump Goneril-like out of convenience or do they “love Big Brother”? Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor may hold the key.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Maldive Shark", 1984, Brothers Karamazov, Congressional Republicans, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Orwell, GOP, GOP Tax Plan, H. G. Wells, Herman Melville, Invisible Man Comments closed
I Am Lazarus Come Back from the Dead
I’ve just realized that the Lazarus mentioned in Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a different once than I’ve been assuming. This makes me appreciate the poem even more.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, hell, Lazarus, Love Song of J. Alfred Pruforck, poverty, T. S. Eliot Comments closed
ISIS and the Grand Inquisitor
Dostoevsky may provide a compelling explanation for the recruiting success of ISIS: young people want to escape from freedom.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Brothers Karamazov, Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom, Fyodor Dostoevsky, ISIS, Michel Houellebecq, Submission Comments closed
