The Brothers Karamazov: "An unfortunate gathering"

"That is, in. brief," Father Paissy began again, laying stress
on each word, "according to certain theories only too clearly
formulated in the nineteenth century, the Church ought to be
transformed into the State, as though this would be an ad-
vance from a lower to a higher form, so as to disappear into it,
making way for science, for the spirit of the age, and civilisa-
tion. And if the Church resists and is unwilling, some corner
will be set apart for her in the State, and even that under con-
trol — and this will be so everywhere in all modern European
countries. But Russian hopes and conceptions demand not
that the Church should pass as from a lower into a higher type
into the State, but, on the contrary, that the State should end
by being worthy to become only the Church and nothing else.
So be it! So be it!"

"Well, I confess you've reassured me somewhat," Miiisov
said smiling, again crossing his legs. "So far as I understand
then, the realisation of such an ideal is infinitely remote, at the
second coming of Christ. That's as you please. It's a beautiful
Utopian dream of the abolition of war, diplomacy, banks, and
so on — something after the fashion of socialism, indeed. But
I imagined that it was all meant seriously, and that the Church
might be now going to try criminals, and sentence them to
beating, prison, and even death."

"But if there were none but the ecclesiastical court, the
Church would not even now sentence a criminal to prison or
to death. Crime and the way of regarding it would inevitably
change, not all at once of course, but fairly soon," Ivan replied
calmly, without flinching.

"Are you serious?" Miiisov glanced keenly at him.

"If everything became the Church, the Church would ex-
clude all the criminal and disobedient, and would not cut off
their heads," Ivan went on. "I ask you, what would become of
the excluded? He would be cut off then not only from men,
as now, but from Christ. By his crime he would have trans-
gressed not only against men but against the Church of Christ.
This is so even now, of course, strictly speaking, but it is not
clearly enunciated, and very, very often the criminal of to-day
compromises with his conscience: 'I steal,' he says, 'but I don't
go against Church. I'm not an enemy of Christ.' That's what
the criminal of to-day is continually saying to himself, but
when the Church takes the place of the State it will be diffi-
cult for him, in opposition to the Church all over the world,
to say: 'All men are mistaken, all in error, all mankind are the
false Church. I, a thief and murderer, am the only true Chris-
tian Church.' It will be very difficult to say this to himself; it
requires a rare combination of unusual circumstances. Now,
on the other side, take the Church's own view of crime: is it
not bound to renounce the present almost pagan attitude, and
to change from a mechanical cutting off of its tainted member
for the preservation of society, as at present, into completely
and honestly adopting the idea of the regeneration of the man,
of his reformation and salvation?"

"What do you mean? I fail to understand again," Miiisov
interrupted. "Some sort of dream again. Something shapeless
and even incomprehensible. What is excommunication? What
sort of exclusion? I suspect you are simply amusing yourself,
Ivan Fyodorovitch."

"Yes, but you know, in reality it is so now," said the elder
suddenly, and all turned to him at once. "If it were not for
the Church of Christ there would be nothing to restrain the
criminal from evil-doing, no real chastisement for it after-
wards; none, that is, but the mechanical punishment spoken of
just now, which in the majority of cases only embitters the
heart; and not the real punishment, the only effectual one,
the only deterrent and softening one, which lies in the recog-
nition of sin by conscience."

"How is that, may one inquire?" asked Miiisov, with lively
curiosity.

"Why," began the elder, "all these sentences to exile with
hard labour, and formerly with flogging also, reform no one,
and what's more, deter hardly a single criminal, and the num-
ber of crimes does not diminish but is continually on the in-
crease. You must admit that. Consequently the security of
society is not preserved, for, although the obnoxious member
is mechanically cut off and sent far away out of sight, another
criminal always comes to take his place at once, and often two
of them. If anything does preserve society, even in our time,
and does regenerate and transform the criminal, it is only the
law of Christ speaking in his conscience. It is only by recog-
nising his wrong-doing as a son of a Christian society — that
is, of the Church — that he recognises his sin against society —
that is, against the Church. So that it is only against the
Church, and not against the State, that the criminal of to-day
can recognise that he has sinned. If society, as a Church, had
jurisdiction then it would know whom to bring back from ex-
clusion and to re-unite to itself. Now the Church having no
real jurisdiction, but only the power of moral condemnation,
withdraws of her own accord from punishing the criminal
actively. She does not excommunicate him but simply persists
in motherly exhortation of him. What is more, the Church even
tries to preserve all Christian communion with the criminal.
She admits him to church services, to the holy sacrament,
gives him alms, and treats him more as a captive than as a con-
vict. And what would become of the criminal, O Lord, if even
the Christian society — that is, the Church — were to reject him
even as the civil law rejects him and cuts him off? What would
become of him if the Church punished him with her excom-
munication as the direct consequence of the secular law? There
could be no more terrible despair, at least for a Russian crim-
inal, for Russian criminals still have faith. Though, who
knows, perhaps then a fearful thing would happen, perhaps
the despairing heart of the criminal would lose its faith and
then what would become of him? But the Church, like a
tender, loving mother, holds aloof from active punishment
herself, as the sinner is too severely punished already by the
civil law, and there must be at least some one to have pity on
him. The Church holds aloof, above all, because its judgment
is the only one that contains the truth, and therefore cannot
practically and morally be united to any other judgment even
as a temporary compromise. She can enter into no compact
about that. The foreign criminal, they say, rarely repents, for
the very doctrines of to-day confirm him in the idea that his
crime is not a crime, but only a reaction against an unjustly
oppressive force. Society cuts him off completely by a force
that triumphs over him mechanically and (so at least they say
of themselves in Europe) accompanies this exclusion with
hatred, forgetfulness, and the most profound indifference as
to the ultimate fate of the erring brother. In this way, it all
takes place without the compassionate intervention of the
Church, for in many cases there are no churches there at all,
for though ecclesiastics and splendid church buildings remain,
the churches themselves have long ago striven to pass from
Church into State and to disappear in it completely. So it
seems at least in Lutheran countries. As for Rome, it was pro-
claimed a State instead of a Church a thousand years ago. And
so the criminal is no longer conscious of being a member of the
Church and sinks into despair. If he returns to society, often
it is with such hatred that society itself instinctively cuts
him off. You can judge for yourself how it must end. In many
cases it would seem to be the same with us, but the difference
is that besides the established law courts we have the Church
too, which always keeps up relations with the criminal as a
dear and still precious son. And besides that, there is still pre-
served, though only in thought, the judgment of the Church,
which though no longer existing in practice is still living as a
dream for the future, and is, no doubt, instinctively recognised
by the criminal in his soul. What was said here just now is
true too, that is, that if the jurisdiction of the Church were
introduced in practice in its full force, that is, if the whole of
the society were changed into the Church, not only the judg-
ment of the Church would have influence on the reformation
of the criminal such as it never has now, but possibly also the
crimes themselves would be incredibly diminished. And there
can be no doubt that the Church would look upon the crim-
inal and the crime of the future in many cases quite differ-
ently and would succeed in restoring the excluded, in restrain-
ing those who plan evil, and in regenerating the fallen. It is
true," said Father Zossima, with a smile, "the Christian society
now is not ready and is only resting on some seven righteous
men, but as they are never lacking, it will continue still un-
shaken in expectation of its complete transformation from a
society almost heathen in character into a single universal and
all-powerful Church. So be it, so be it! Even though at the
end of the ages, for it is ordained to come to pass! And there
is no need to be troubled about times and seasons, for the
secret of the times and seasons is in the wisdom of God, in His
foresight, and His love. And what in human reckoning seems
still afar off, may by the Divine ordinance be close at hand, on
the eve of its appearance. And so be it, so be it!"

"So be it, so be it!" Father Paissy repeated austerely and
reverently.

"Strange, extremely strange!" Miiisov pronounced, not so
much with heat as with latent indignation.

"What strikes you as so strange?" Father losif Inquired
cautiously.

"Why, it's beyond anything!" cried Miiisov, suddenly
breaking out, "the State is eliminated and the Church is raised
to the position of the State. It's not simply Ultramontanism,
it's arch-ultramontanism! It's beyond the dreams of Pope
Gregory the Seventh!"

"You are completely misunderstanding it," said Father
Paissy sternly. "Understand: the Church is not to be trans-
formed into the State. That is Rome and its dream. That is the
third temptation of the devil. On the contrary, the State is
transformed into the Church, will ascend and become a
Church over the whole world — which is the complete opposite
of Ultramontanism and Rome, and your interpretation, and is
only the glorious destiny ordained for the Orthodox Church.
This star will arise in the east!"

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