Cultural Artifact 2- Crime and Punishment

In the classic novel Crime and Punishment, the story revolves around a poor student, named Raskolnikov, who was a man who believed that humanity was an immoral race, whose own iniquity steered it toward self-destruction. He saw humans as weak and feeble-minded creatures with little to no moral penitence, causing it to fall deeply into decadence, with no hope of salvation. Raskolnikov saw how the Empire was working in his society at that time and was repulsed by it. He had the discernment that many in our society today lack when it comes to how greatly we are influenced by the Empire in how we think, how we act, what we buy and so on. Once Raskolnikov saw how society was, he did not, could not, think that he was one of them, thus also sharing their fate. For him to believe so, would cause him to lose his sanity as he saw himself as part of the society he so despised. Therefore, to keep himself sane, he believed that a remarkable act, the murder of Aliona Ivanova, was the only way for him to keep his sanity. Ironically, in the end it was this act that slowly wore away at his mind. However because of Christianity, reintroduced through his friend Sonia, he examined himself and saw that his exalted perceptions of himself were incorrect. He came to realize that he was a mere human, with the same sinful human nature that he so condemned and that his crime did nothing but further his sin. Raskolnikov noticed that his sanity, and thus his purity, wavered constantly because of the immorality of humanity and the society it keeps. Through Christianity, Raskolnikov was able to confess his sins, remain sane, and reenter into society. Similarly, Christians today must first discern the effects of Empire in their lives, but in doing so must not believe that they are above society, as some do, because God created us to form societies. Instead they must try to advance the Kingdom by first receiving the deliverance that Jesus Christ provided by first taking up their cross.