The Grand Inquisitor/The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor is Ivan's "poem", which he recites after Rebellion. In part, the discussion from Rebellion is Ivan's way of judging whether Alyosha is ready to hear the poem. Ivan determines that Alyosha is ready to hear it, and so tells the story, with occasional questions from Alyosha to break the narrative. It is important to note that while Ivan refers to it as a "poem", that the tale itself is prose.

In the story, Jesus (referred to by Ivan only as "He", or "Him", with a capital H) returns to earth during the Spanish Inquisition. He brings a dead girl back to life, and performs other miracles among the wounded, sick, and dying people in town. The Grand Inquisitor, riding through town with his procession, sees Him, and has Him arrested. The remainder of the story involves the "conversation" that the Grand Inquisitor has with Jesus. The word "conversation" in the previous sentence is a bit of a misnomer, because throughout the rest of the story, The Grand Inquisitor speaks to Him, and He listens silently.

He never speaks, but his silence is applauded by the Inquisitor, who says "Thou hast no right to add anything to what Thou hadst said of old." Aloysha asks whether He is completely silent throughout the conversation, to which Ivan replies:


 * "That's inevitable in any case, the old man has told Him He hasn't the right to add anything to what He has said of old. One may say it is the most fundamental feature of Roman Catholicism, in my opinion at least. 'All has been given by The to the Pope,' they say, 'and all, therefore, is still in the Pope's hands, and there is no need for Thee to come now at all."

Another point that the Inquisitor makes frequently is that He has given humanity a certain amount of freedom, and that any additional messages from Him would encroach upon that freedom. Also, continues the Inquisitor, that freedom that was given to humanity by Jesus' original message was actually a penalty, and that the church has needed to remove those freedoms from the people.

Part 5
The "temptations" the Inquisitor is referring to here are the three temptations of Jesus, described in Matthew chapter 4 in the Bible:

''And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.''

The same passage is described in Luke chapter 4:

''And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.''

Even though the two accounts differ in the ordering, the same three temptations are given by the devil to Jesus:
 * 1) Turn stones to bread.
 * 2) Worship the Devil in exchange for worldly power.
 * 3) Attempt to hurt yourself, to prove that you are protected by God.

The Inquisitor goes on to say that these three temptations are profound, which he will describe later.