DOSTOEVSKY’S MODERN GOSPEL: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

Abstract

This article is a translation of Priscilla Meyer’s article «Dostoevsky’s Modern Gospel: Crime and Punishment and the Gospel of John.» The paper examines the theological dimension of the literary work as it establishes legal responsibility and the legal subject. She argues that Christ, as the incarnated Word, brings the «new word» of the New Testament – the doctrine of Christian love and forgiveness. Raskolnikov serves as a tragic parody of this divine ideal: his attempt to speak a «new word» through murder represents, as Sonya points out, a transgressive attempt to usurp God’s exclusive authority over life and death.