A WRESTLING WITH THE GOD WHO WEEPS: FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF JOSEPH SMITH

Abstract

This paper contains three acts, so to speak, each part analyzing approaches to the philosophical Problem of Evil within the 19th century. This is done by juxtaposing some of the strongest arguments over the Problem of Evil. Before going into the arguments themselves, I survey the movements of the 19th century and specifically examine a 19th century piece of art by Alexander Leloir, symbolizing man’s struggle with God, and use his image as my model for channeling the following two arguments. I then examine a piece of literature from the 19th century, The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, focusing specifically on his character Ivan Karamazov’s critique of God in regard to the suffering of children and the innocent. Ivan gives one of the best articulations of the atheist critique of God’s amorality and allowance of evil. Following that, I examine the religious philosophy of a 19th century figure, Joseph Smith, whose contributions I attempt to show provide a valid theodicy for acquitting God from the Problem of Evil, due to the conception of God, Mankind, and a christogenic cosmos that Smith introduces.