Instead of calling Ivan a mere atheist, it makes more sense to classify him as a doubter.
Alyosha explains that Ivan “has a stormy spirit,” and that “[h]e is haunted by a great, unsolved doubt. He is one of those who don’t want millions, but an answer to their questions” (72). Ivan wrestles with the idea of having blind faith in God. It seems as if his heart wants to trust in God, but his over-analytical mind won’t let him completely give himself over to faith in this God that allows so much suffering in the world.
Jude desires freedom from God as well. His desire, though, stems more from the frustrations of his life than from a belief that he knows a better way than God’s. Jude’s original conception of Christianity misleads him. Because he equates God with his conception of
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In his forsaking of religion and Christianity, Jude also nearly always seems to call not God’s existence into question, but rather God’s creation and His way of dealing with humanity.
Towards the end of the novel, though, Jude does begin to question even the existence of
God. Near the end of the novel, when Sue bemoans their hopeless lives and exclaims that “[i]t is no use fighting against God!”, Jude responds by completely disregarding God’s role in their lives, stating instead that they are fighting “only against man and senseless circumstances” (Jude
311). The novel shows Jude’s progression from desiring to be completely dependent upon God to willing himself free from God’s control, even to the point of denying God’s existence. Thus while Ivan’s beliefs about God appear to remain fairly constant throughout The Brothers
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Karamazov, Jude gradually shifts from a committed faith to a nearly atheistic view in Jude