The Grand Inquisitor is one of the best novels written with a perceptive piece of theology. The novel grasps the perversion of Christianity and Christian churches about the mystery, miracle, and temptation of Christ in the wilderness. It demonstrates how Jesus rejected different temptations, and how men rejoiced and followed him like sheep.

The Grand Inquisitor

In the life of Jesus Christ, he performs number of miracles that made people believe in him. He was arrested by the inquisition and was sentenced to be burned on the following day. The Grand Inquisitor visited Christ in his cell and he was convinced that this person is in fact the Christ who returned to earth. The inquisitor himself points out in favor for the freedom of Christ and he justifies that condemnation made against Jesus. In one of the passages, it was mentioned that Christ appeared quietly and inconspicuously that other people even recognized him. In the event, people followed him and it seems that there is an invincible force that drives them to follow like the sheep. The people surrounded Jesus and they flocked around him, while Jesus passes with a quiet smile and full of compassion. After all the miracles of Jesus, he was arrested by the Grand Inquisitor and the latter made some complaints against the freedom that Jesus offered to him. For the Grand Inquisitor, he considered the actions of Jesus as an innate lawlessness because he returned into the world, empty handed, and with some promise of freedom. The Grand Inquisitor believed that the people are weak and eternally depraved, and they do not want freedom. He emphasized how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and was strong enough to handle freedom and rejected the offer of the devil. The actions demonstrated by Jesus against all the temptation are enormous that people cannot just handle. Tens of millions of people followed Jesus, and apparently these people are not strong to reject temptations for the sake for heavenly cause (Freedom, 2009).

In the novel, the Grand Inquisitor gave greater emphasis on the three temptations that Christ faced in the wilderness. It was illustrated in the novel how Jesus rejected all the offers of evil demonstrating to the people his mighty powers. The Grand Inquisitor believes that the things which Jesus rejects in the wilderness are the things that people cannot reject. However, there are some people who can ignore those things but the great masses are weak to reject them. There is a claim that majority of the people need these material things in order to be happy. The novel pointed out that people has a conscience and moral sense that they are willing to give their full respect to those who can give them bread. The people have the tendency to follow those who seduced their conscience.

The Grand Inquisitor emphasized that people are indeed not capable of handling absolute freedom. The Grand Inquisitor insisted that freedom and law certainly will come into conflict. Just like how the people followed Jesus, their conscience was captivated and during that time the people were given the freedom to decide of what is good and evil. The novel illustrated that most people followed Jesus because they were guided by the image and miracles. It was mentioned in the novel how law replaces freedom because it sets boundaries to the actions of people. Apparently, the Grand Inquisitor pointed out that the kind of freedom occurred in most people in following Jesus was brought by their captivated and seduced conscience. The Grand Inquisitor gave charges against the actions of Jesus because he believed that the latter overestimated the humanity of people. In the novel, the Grand inquisitor himself believed that Jesus treated the people differently and he overestimated the nature of mankind. It was mentioned in the novel that mystery, miracle, and authority can conquer and hold the conscience of the people. The Grand Inquisitor gave emphasis on the power of authority demonstrated by Jesus to the people. Jesus displayed a kind of authority with certain force that can unify the people. The novel has intriguing twist and shocking revelation as the Grand Inquisitor rejected the freedom of chosen ones because he himself recognized the weaknesses of the masses of humanity. There are comments in the novel about human nature, love, and freedom. The masses of humanity cannot easily manage the freedom that Jesus once suggested to them (Freedom, 2009). The core of human beings admitted that they cannot handle the absolute freedom and all they want is miracle authority, and mystery. The Grand Inquisitor embodied two perspectives in handling human nature and freedom; he first embraced with the freedom and aimed to become one of the chosen ones. He himself found out that by embracing the freedom isolation he was isolated from human kind. The Grand Inquisitor was convinced that freedom will not respond to in masses and people cannot understand it. To live with absolute freedom is similar with living in an island isolated from humanity.

Conclusion

The Grand Inquisitor considered the human beings as weak masses and not appropriate with the kind of absolute freedom once suggested by Jesus. Freedom and love was offered by Jesus Christ and this fact cannot be captured in creeds but demonstrated in the world. The Grand Inquisitor is not all wrong with his statement, and it seems that he has just failed to appreciate the true transformation of humanity through that acts of love that sets true sense of freedom.

Reference

Dostoevski, Fyodor. “Freedom Comes from True Authority”. Selection 7, p 69. (2009).

The Hound of the Baskervilles is perhaps the best known of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.  The novel begins with Dr. Watson and Mr. Holmes discovering a cane that was left in their office.  Holmes astonished Watson by naming the person who left it and predicting is return, moments before the owner entered.  Their visitor, one Doctor James Mortimer, briefs them on the known facts regarding a mystery he has found himself involved with, one that purportedly is associated with a curse brought on by a lecherous Baskerville ancestor.

The Hound of the Baskervilles was one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most prestigious writings.  His famous character, Sherlock Holmes was a highly skilled solver of mysteries and Doyle’s talented writings allowed people to follow Sherlock Holmes and Watson in a trail of investigation and deduction to solve a problem usually not in the way one would think. In 1902, Doyle was knighted by the King of England, for services rendered to the Crown during the Boer War.  Though not an active soldier, Doyle’s talent was tapped by the Crown for the preparation of propaganda materials which proved quite effective.

As with all Holmes memoirs (as the Holmes novels have come to be called), the primarily character relationships are between Sherlock Holmes and Watson.  Their ability to play against each other in order to achieve deduction and solve the case is amazing.  Dr Watson plays the part of the sounding board, listening, recording, and even proposing possible solutions he thinks fits the evidence before them, allowing the character of Holmes to glow more brightly when he shows Watson’s theories to be erroneous.

The history of the alleged family curse in The House of the Baskervilles stands in stark contrast to Holmes’ air of logic and investigation.  Those who believe one over the other could have the division drawn clearly down the separation of upper and lower class citizens in the novel, revealing that, even at the time of Doyle’s work, this attitude of superior intellect of the upper classes was prevalent, heavily influencing Doyle’s work.  It is an unfortunate truth that such assumptions continue, even in today’s “enlightened” society.  Those who end up homeless, unemployed, or forced (or choose) to work laborious occupations are viewed as less intelligent than the mainstream society.

In academic circles, these problems also exist.  Students who lack advanced writing talent in the preparation of their essays and other class work are often looked down upon by their instructors as potentially unworthy of continuing their education.  This attitude tends to be self-perpetuating and self-fulfilling.  Instructors given written research assignments and, when a given student does not meet their arbitrary standards, the student is given a poor grade.  Our staff of skilled and experienced writers works hard to help students fight back, providing support and writing services for almost every academic line of student and literally at every level of academic and occupational environments.  All we need is your order.

And Then There Were None is a mystery novel regarding the death of 8 guests and 2 workers in a home.  The guests were invited for many different reasons, but all learn that it wasn’t for the reasons they had thought.  As they sit for dinner, they find out that they are being accused of a murder, and one by one, the guests begin to have accidents in conjunction with a nursery rhyme called ten little Indians.

And Then There Were None was written by the well-recognized Lady of Mystery, Agatha Christie.  Christie began writing mysteries after her daughter’s birth and proved a prolific author but her divorce from her husband of fourteen years seemed to mark the end of her motivation to write.  Although Christie wrote many mystery novels within her life, “And Then There Were None” is recognized as one of her most famous works. In addition to having a movie based upon the novel, the novel also seems to have been the inspiring force behind a Broadway hit comedy entitled “Something’s Afoot.”

The characters within “And Then There Were None,” at first, do not seem to have anything in common.  Yet by the end of the novel, their relation is startlingly clear.  The guests that were invited were Judge Lawrence Wargrave, Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, Dr. Edward George Armstrong, William Henry Blore, Emily Brent, Macarthur,  Anthony Marston, and Issac Morris.  Each of these guests, it is learned, have a secret, one that their host feels has gone unpunished.

And Then There Were None explores the concept of crime and punishment, in particular undetected, unreported or unpunished offenses.  The host of the party, upon learning of his impending death, chooses to go out with meaning by bringing people he believes have evaded punishment to justice.  This vigilante attitude has arisen to a position of prominence in recent year in the form of Hollywood’s “Saw” movies, which are about to be increased to six at the time of this writing.  It was through this novel that Christie established her position on the issue.  Though she wrote incredible, vivid tales of mystery, Christie was firmly against vigilantism.

Students often find themselves feeling very much like the “guests” in And Then There Were None.  Many college professors seem to desire “weeding out” those they feel are unworthy of their degree.  This perception is most commonly present in Master’s and Doctoral environments where students feel they are being targeted by this professor or that for failure.  It is during these times that students most often need the assistance of professional researchers and writers, such as those that work for our agency.  With years of individual service and notable talent, each of them stand ready to assist you with your academic assignment.  All they need is your order.