Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
The Grand Inquisitor is a story within a story included within Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov. It is recited by Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov, during a conversation with his brother Alexei, a novice monk, about the possibility of a personal and benevolent God. The Grand Inquisitor is an important part of the novel and one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom.
In a long diatribe directed at Jesus Himself, who has returned to Earth in Seville at the height of the Inquisition, the Grand Inquisitor defends the following ideas:
1. Only the principles of the devil can lead to mankind's unification; give man bread, control his conscience, and rule the world;
2. Jesus limited himself to a small group of chosen ones, while the Catholic Church improved on his work and addresses all people;
3. The church rules the world in the name of God, but with the devil's principles;
4. Jesus was mistaken in holding man in high esteem.
Jesus remains silent throughout the Inquisitor's speech.
(Produced and narrated by Vincent Bagnall) One Hour, 10 minutes.
The Grand Inquisitor is a story within a story included within Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov. It is recited by Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov, during a conversation with his brother Alexei, a novice monk, about the possibility of a personal and benevolent God. The Grand Inquisitor is an important part of the novel and one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom.
In a long diatribe directed at Jesus Himself, who has returned to Earth in Seville at the height of the Inquisition, the Grand Inquisitor defends the following ideas:
1. Only the principles of the devil can lead to mankind's unification; give man bread, control his conscience, and rule the world;
2. Jesus limited himself to a small group of chosen ones, while the Catholic Church improved on his work and addresses all people;
3. The church rules the world in the name of God, but with the devil's principles;
4. Jesus was mistaken in holding man in high esteem.
Jesus remains silent throughout the Inquisitor's speech.
(Produced and narrated by Vincent Bagnall) One Hour, 10 minutes.
