Was Dostoevsky an Atheist?

[blazeofglory]

I am reading Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. First I got started with a bit difficulty in understanding the book. Later on I found the book profoundly captivating. But I got stuck by two questions in the course of writing.
• Given some characters like the Elder and Alyosha I thought that Dostoevsky had a liking to religion, God and the idea of immortality.
• As the reading followed the book had a different impression on me and I felt that Dostoevsky was a nonbeliever
It is really hard to say conclusively given the so many characters all having their own ideas presented in such a logical and philosophical manner whether he was a theist or atheist in point of fact.
I hope may on this forum have gone through the book and had presented critical essays / reviews on the book.
Among the books I have read lately this book stands out in terms of the multiplicity of characters, themes and the philosophies.
I hope my skepticisms will be clear with your views

[rimbaud]

you have to understand that a person may believe in God or Religion or be an atheist
what Dostoevsky did in TBK is he became everyone, a genius, he became both sides, as you will see in the trial at the end there is a chapter where psychology is described as a A Stick with Two Ends. How do you call a man like that, he is nor believer nor an atheist, he is truly a genius!

[DanielBenoit]

I'm very glad that you're enjoying such a great writer. I've never read The Brothers, but I've read almost everything else by him and I can tell you, he is certainly not an atheist. But nor is he some sort of fundimentalist.

He can be regarded as a Christain existentialist, a lot like Kierkegaard. You should probably read The Idiot after you finish The Brothers, because it is one of the most clear statements on his religous views. I also reccomend the short story Dream of a Ridiculous Man.

[OrphanPip]

From what I'm aware of, Dostoevsky was a devout Russian Orthodox Christian. Although, he can be thought of us a Christian Existentialist like Kierkegaard. The Grand Inquisitor parable also functions as a veiled critique of Catholicism.

Edit: Don't forget Notes From Underground, that one clearly shows the Existentialist train of thought.

[wat??]

From what I'm aware of, Dostoevsky was a devout Russian Orthodox Christian. Although, he can be thought of us a Christian Existentialist like Kierkegaard. The Grand Inquisitor parable also functions as a veiled critique of Catholicism.

Edit: Don't forget Notes From Underground, that one clearly shows the Existentialist train of thought.

It should considering it gave birth to Existentialism.

[mayneverhave]

The brilliance of The Brothers Karamazov is that it takes all sides without leaning specifically to one. Dostoevsky and his characters are sitting precariously in a neutral position: between faith and doubt.

The main juxtaposition is between Ivan and Zossima - and it has often been noted that The Grand Inquistor and the other Ivan chapters trump the overly religious sections of A life in a Christian monk.

As for what Dostoevsky was: does it matter? His novel encompasses all, its irrelavent what the author believes. Whether Shakespeare is a pink flamingo or not takes nothing away from his work.

[Desolation]

Dostoevsky was everything, he was a strict Christian, a faithful atheist and freethinker, a rabid nihilist, a stout anti-nihilist, a hardcore conservative, a radical liberal, a simpleton, an intellectual, a man obsessed with despair, a man who embraced the beauty of life, he had it all in him. That's what makes him so great, he had a taste of everything and used it all to create some of the most fascinating characters in all the literary world.

[mal4mac]

Dostoevsky was everything, he was a strict Christian, a faithful atheist...

How can you be a Christian and an atheist?

Dostoevsky made some very deep representations of atheists and Christians in his novels. But that doesn't mean he had to be both Christian and atheist. You can only find out if Dostoevsky was a Christian by reading biographical material, if there's enough material. (As there isn't for Shakespeare.)

Novels are fiction and you cannot deduce the actual beliefs of a real world person from fiction, at least not with any certainty. (Though I tend to believe Shakespeare is post-Christian from his fictions!) From the little I've read about Dostoevsky, I get the impression he was a fairly conservative Christian with (of course) a Russian orthodox slant, but I haven't looked into his life as much as I would like to.

I guess I should read a good biography of the man. Any suggestions?

[OrphanPip]

It should considering it gave birth to Existentialism.

That's silly, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche were both before Dostoevsky.

Edit: Well Nietzsche is kind of a contemporary.

[Desolation]

How can you be a Christian and an atheist?

Dostoevsky made some very deep representations of atheists and Christians in his novels. But that doesn't mean he had to be both Christian and atheist. You can only find out if Dostoevsky was a Christian by reading biographical material, if there's enough material. (As there isn't for Shakespeare.)

Novels are fiction and you cannot deduce the actual beliefs of a real world person from fiction, at least not with any certainty. (Though I tend to believe Shakespeare is post-Christian from his fictions!) From the little I've read about Dostoevsky, I get the impression he was a fairly conservative Christian with (of course) a Russian orthodox slant, but I haven't looked into his life as much as I would like to.

I guess I should read a good biography of the man. Any suggestions?

What I meant by that is that, from what I've read, he flip-flopped between the two, and despite being a strict conservative Christian for the later part of his life, he constantly questioned his faith.

[FrankMarcopolos]

I would agree with mayneverhave and Desolation. It doesn't matter what D's personal beliefs were. Judge the work on its own merits, as its own world. Leave the Creator out of his Creation.

[rimbaud]

I would agree with mayneverhave and Desolation. It doesn't matter what D's personal beliefs were. Judge the work on its own merits, as its own world. Leave the Creator out of his Creation.

I agree!

[Red-Headed]

It has been said that Dostoyevsky was the 'arch heirophant of intellectual self-consciousness' (Middleton Murray). He rediscovered the metaphysical in empirical terms invoking ancient truths, many which had ceased to be convincing, & influenced modernism.

I would say that after his atheist period & when he came back from exile he exhibited a form of Slavophile Anarcho-Christianity which was fiercely anti-Catholic. He seemed to believe in the acceptance of freewill & moral choice & the suffering that this inevitably brings, almost suggesting an 'every man can become a Christ' utopianism.

He also disliked the zapadnik 'Westernist' writers which is why he viciously parodied Turgenev in The Devils.

[Gladys]

That's silly, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche were both before Dostoevsky.

Well worth reading is Henrik Ibsen's monumental play of 1865, Brand, which pre-dates the major Dostoevsky novels, and presents Kierkegaard's existential Christian hero in all his glory. Here too, the writer's religious sympathies are less than clear.

[dfloyd]

He was a Mormon. It is a little known fact that his death was faked, and he emigrated to Utah and wrote westerns the rest of his life.

That's about how silly this discussion is.