Discourse on Smerdyakovian Faith and Martyrdom

Issue 1

Thomas Maier

12/6/24

Discourse on Smerdyakovian Faith and Martyrdom

He who Himself was The WORD hath said, “I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mat, 5:27-28). In this saying, Jesus eradicates the difference between thought and deed. Jesus is saying that one can sin in both the mind and the heart but those sins that are premeditated or not repressed are committed in the heart not in the mind. In The Brothers Karamazov, Smerdyakov attempts to refute this argument by reducing Christ’s argument made by Grigory through a story. Grigory told the story thus: 

He had heard from him (Lukyanov) about a Russian soldier stationed somewhere far away at the border who was captured by Asians and, being forced by them on pain of agonizing and immediate death to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam, would not agree to change his faith, and endured torture, was flayed alive, and died glorifying and praising Christ. (135)

Smerdyakov’s intention to object to this story is apparent in his grin, which the drunk Fyodor Karamazov notices immediately. Fyodor urges Smerdyakov to state his objection, which was that 

if the deed of this laudable soldier was so great, sir, there would also have been no sin, in my opinion, if on such an occasion he had even renounced Christ’s name and his own baptism in order to thereby save his life for good deeds with which to atone in the course of the years for his faintheartedness. (Dostoevsky, 136) 

Smerdyakov goes on to say that if such a man thinks, even for “a quarter of a second” that he might renounce Christ and his baptism, then his baptism is forfeit and he becomes “anathema excommunicated from the Holy Church like a heathen at that very moment” (136). Several fallacies appear in Smerdyakov’s refutation of the story: first, Smerdyakov’s refutation goes directly against the historical example of martyrs of the early and modern church; second, it is incongruous with Biblical teaching that faith – rather than works – saves;  third, Smerdyakov seems to think that thought and deed are the same thing, that when you ponder or imagine the renunciation of your baptism, you have as good as renounced it indeed renounce your baptism it is as good as done, this idea is incongruous with Jesus saying about sin done in the heart not the mind.

Smerdyakov seems to have forgotten centuries of persecution of the Christian Church that resulted in the martyrdom of all the apostles of Christ except John. He has either forgotten or seems to think that he knows better, let us give Smerdyakov the benefit of the doubt and assume that he thought that he knows better. How come then, Smerdyakov goes directly against Biblical teaching on martyrdom? The Revelation of John says “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Rev, 6:9-11). Nowhere in the Bible or in extensive work done later by Saints does it ever say that one should renounce their faith to save themselves. There is the story of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, a Chinese saint, who was martyred in the Boxer Rebellion. He was a doctor that was, through his work, addicted to opium. He was so tortured by his addiction that he prayed for martyrdom as he knew that he could not enter Heaven as an addict. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was granted his wish and died for the faith in 1900 and was canonized in 2000. It is clear then that Smerdyakov is incorrect with regard to history or martyrdom. 

Secondly, Smerdyakov makes the point that one could renounce their faith in order to save their life if they intended to make ramifications later on in life. This idea is a common misunderstanding by both atheists and those of little faith, if a person knowingly commits a sin which is grave matter, committed with full knowledge, and with full consent then that person has committed a mortal sin with which “Unrepented, it brings eternal death” (CCC, 1874). But of course, Smerdyakov says that this potential martyr would repent before death, in which case the person would have to be truly sorry for having forsaken God and His Church. The person would have to have “perfect contrition, inspired by faith and love (not merely fear)” (CCC, 1492). One cannot thus sin with the intention of repentance later, which is not repentant. Perfect contrition is incompatible with trying to fool God to save a life.

Thirdly and most importantly, Smerdyakov seems to think thought and deed are the same thing as he says that if the man from the story had merely thought that he might renounce God and The Church in order to save his own life, he would be as guilty before God as the man who having given no thought at all, submitted to the persecutors, and renounced God. This idea bears a superficial resemblance to the  saying of Jesus quoted earlier, that “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mat, 5:27-28). Jesus seems to be blurring the lines between physical sins and those committed in the heart. He does this to combat those Jews at the time that would follow custom merely because it was custom not out of love. So they felt perfectly fine with plotting murder but not murdering, but Jesus says that to plan to murder you have as good as murdered. Where Smerdyakov falls into folly is when he says the next part that if one thinks for a quarter of a second to renounce one’s baptism and God then he is guilty of doing such. Here is where one has to look closely at Jesus’s words, Jesus says that a man has committed a sin in his heart by looking on a woman with lust. One thus must look deep into the meaning behind Jesus’s so-called sinning with your heart. Jesus uses the Greek word ‘kardia’ for heart not mind ‘myaló’. Jesus is making a difference between passing thought, and those thoughts that dwell in our heart. We know as humans that we are fallen and evil thoughts will enter our minds, Jesus says to guard against these thoughts, but he also knows that these thoughts will inevitably happen. Jesus thus teaches us that though we should guard against evil thoughts it is not sinful to have such thoughts as that is due to human nature, it only becomes sin when we allow those thoughts to dwell within the temple of our heart and thereby corrupt our hearts. Hence, the man that thinks for a quarter of a second that if he renounces God that he would save his life, is not necessarily sinning if he rebukes the thought and will not renounce God and The Faith. Smerdyakov’s error is that construes Jesus’s meaning with the difference between sins committed in the heart and those of the mind. 

In conclusion, Smerdyakov is wrong - intentionally or not- about martyrs, and the difference between sin committed in the heart vs that committed in the mind. Willful ignorance about God and The Scriptures is a common theme among people today and is continued with this line of thinking.