Dostoevsky’s Religion

by Steven Cassedy

Any reader of Dostoevsky is immediately struck by the importance of religion within the world of his fiction. That said, it is very difficult to locate a coherent set of religious beliefs within Dostoevsky’s works, and to argue that the writer embraced these beliefs. This book provides a trenchant reassessment of his religion by showing how Dostoevsky used his writings as the vehicle for an intense probing of the nature of Christianity, of the individual meaning of belief and doubt, and of the problems of ethical behavior that arise from these questions. The author argues that religion represented for Dostoevsky a welter of conflicting views and stances, from philosophical idealism to nationalist messianism. The strength of this study lies in its recognition of the absence of a single religious prescription in Dostoevsky's works, as well as in its success in tracing the background of the ideas animating Dostoevsky’s religious probing.

Genres: Religion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 2, 2005

Reviews

[航 俞 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives an interesting perspective into Dostoevsky's religious views. There are many monographs deal with this issue, but this one is still worthy of reading not only students majoring literature but also common readers who are interested in Dostoevsky. The most helpful part of this book to me is that it gives me a clear summary of western philosophy and social science influence of 19th century upon the development of Dostoevsky's religion.