The Theology of the Cross in Martin Luther and Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The Only Solution for the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian author and Christian apologist living in the nineteenth century. Martin Luther was a German monk, Christian pastor, and theologian living in the sixteenth century. Both emphasized the centrality of the cross of Jesus Christ in the lives of ordinary Christians as an answer to the problems everyone must face in life. The purpose of this paper is to explore how similar Dostoyevsky and Luther are in their focus on the cross and how they use the cross to answer such problems. The conclusion reached is that both are almost identical in terms of the importance they place on the cross, that the cross is the only solution for the problems mankind faces in life, and that this is of vital importance to every single person living in the twenty-first century. This paper will use examples of people you might meet in life to demonstrate this point.