Russian Orthodoxy. From the icon painting of Andrei Rublevrnto cliurch architecture, both wooden and stone, to the literaturernof Dostovevsk}’ and Solzhenitsyn, the Russian Orthodox havernattempted to reflect the divine, to reach sublime heights of spiritualrnecstasy, and to plumb the mysteries of man’s relationshiprnwith God. hideed, the grand themes of the best of Russian literaturernare sin, suffering, repentance, redemption, and resurrechon.rnIn Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky’s Ahab figure, Raskolnikov,rnis tortured by all the internal demons that can hauntrnthe proud sons of Adam, including the need “to embrace suffering,”rnhis strange desire to be found out in his crime, and hisrnguilt, so unbecoming a proto-superman to whom all things arernallowed. The investigator Porfiry Petrovich confronts Raskolniko’rnwith the bizarre confession of Mikolka, a tradesman whornis prepared to confess to a murder he did not commit—and torntake Raskolnikov’s guilt upon himself Mikolka is a “runner,” arnmember of a particularly irreconcilable sect of Orthodox raskolnikyrn(schismatics; Raskolnikov himself is a schismatic of thernspirit, hence his name). Porfiry Petrovich plays on Raskolnikov’srnguilt, magnified by the overtones in Mikolka’s confessionrnof an innocent bearing the suffering of sinners and therebyrnsecuring the salvation of the fallen: “Won’t you allow,” intonesrnPorfiry, “that such a nation as ours produces fantastic people?”rnSecuring his own salvation (from his internal weakness) by rebelliousrnactions (in this case, the murder of a pawnbroker) isrnbut one of Raskolnikov’s “bookish dreams.” Porfiry Petrovichrntells the heir of Cain—and all men —that “I regard you as onernof those men who could have their guts cut out, and wouldrnstand and look at his torturers with a smile —provided he hasrnfound faith, or God. Well, go and find it, and you will live.”rnSonya, whom Raskolnikov loves, reads him the Gospel storyrn(frequenriy alluded to in Crime and Punishment) of the raisingrnof Lazarus, thus foreshadowing his eventual salvation.rnAccording to Dostoyevsky, this view of mankind as murderersrnall —and of offering sacrifices for the redemption of othersrn—was not his own invention, but merely a literary’ reflectionrnof a prevalent Russian cultural artifact, the giving of alms torncondemned prisoners. In his semi-fictional account of his ownrnprison experience, Notes From the House of the Dead, Dostoyernsky wrote that the “common people” called the prisonersrn”unfortimates,” implying that the prisoners had done nothingrnmore than what the common people had done many times inrntheir hearts. (It is worth noting that the plot of Crime and Punishmentrnsuggested itself to the great writer as the thought ofrnmurdering a pawnbroker, from whom Dostovevsky wished tornredeem an item pawned to pay off a gambling debt, crossed hisrnown mind.) The prisoners benefit greatiy, perhaps spiritually asrnwell as materiallv, from the alms given by common believers:rnThe little girl came rushing after me. . .. “Here unfortunate,rntake a kopeck in the name of Christ!” she cried,rnrunning out ahead of me and pressing the coin in myrnhand. I took her quarter kopeck, and the girl returned tornher mother thoroughly satisfied. I kept that quarterrnkopeck for a long time.rnThe author’s alter ego reflects on this attitude:rnThere are bad people everywhere, but among the badrnthere are some good ones. . . . Who knows? Perhapsrnthese people [his fellow prisoners] are in no way worsernthan those outsiders, those people outside the prison. Irnthought this and shook my head at the notion; but—Codrnin Heaven —if only I had known then to what extent itrnwas true!rnDostoyevsky developed this notion fully and tied it to Russianrnuniversaiism in his masterpiece. The Brothers Karamazov. Inrnthe parable of the onion, which he first heard from an old peasantrnwoman, Dostoyevsky hints at the possibility of mankind’srnuniversal salvation —and of the slim chance that this hope willrnbe realized.rnOnce upon a time there was a woman, and she was asrnwicked as wicked could be, and she died. And not onerngood deed was left behind her. The devils took her andrnthrew her into the lake of fire. And her guardian angelrnstood thinking: what good deed of hers can I rememberrnto tell God? Then he remembered and said to God:rnonce she pulled up an onion and gave it to a beggarrnwoman. Aird God answered: now take that same onion,rnhold it out to her in the lake, she can go to paradise, butrnif the onion breaks, she can stay where she is. The angelrnran to the woman and held out the onion to her: here,rnwoman, he said, take hold of it and I’ll pull. And he beganrnpulling carefully, and had almost pulled her all thernway out, when other sinners in the lake saw her beingrnpulled out and all began holding on to her so as to bernpulled out with her. But the woman was wicked asrnwicked could be, and she began to kick them with herrnfeet: “It’s me who’s getting pulled out, not you; it’s myrnonion, not vours.” No sooner did she say it than thernonion broke. And the woman fell back into the lake andrnis burning there to this day. And the angel wept andrnwent away.rnTaking into consideration the turbulent history of the Russiansrnand their folk wisdom, which embraces a Christian worldview,rnone may ask aspiring evangelists: Just what we can teach arncivilization that has seen so much of suffering, yet has producedrnsuch exalted visions of the relationship between God andrnmankind, and of the fallen—yet salvageable through Christnaturernof all people? Russia has been a more profoundly Christianrnnation than our own for a much longer period of time. Forrnthose who see the Russian Orthodox as heretics, remember thernwords of the Savior in John 12:32: “And I, if I be lifted up fromrnthe earth, will draw all men unto me.” What else can Lutheransrnteach Russians—who have lost tens of millions to war andrntyranny—about the depravity of man? Catholics need not lecturernthem on good works. Baptists can save their breath on thernboundless —and unearned—grace of God. In short, there is nornnation that collectively can top the Russians in either its expectationsrnof calamity and sin or its hope and faith that salvation isrnavailable. The Bible was translated into Russian (it had previouslyrnbeen available only in Old Church Slavonic) in the 19thrncentury and is no longer forbidden fruit for Russians. Ourrnprayers and our support, both moral and material, for Russianrnbelievers and their efforts to make Russia once more a Christianrnnation are in order, but beyond that, patience and understanding,rnnot hectoring and lecturing, are called for.rnDECEMBER 1998/23rnrnrn