Dostoevsky’s Major & Cultural Christianity

A culture infused with Christianity will enable those going through hardships to know that God is with them and that they can turn towards Him at any point.

Over recent years, much effort has been spent discussing the merits or risks of “cultural Christianity.” While definitions of cultural Christianity vary, I will use a relatively broad definition where Christianity is viewed as the default of human existence in a society and thus any alternative is viewed as an individual consciously stepping away from Christianity. In a Christian society, it requires a conscious choice for one to cease to be Christian, even if the majority of people do not live particularly devout lives.

This definition comports to T.S. Eliot’s quote that in a Christian society, “the mass of the population… should not be exposed to a way of life in which is too sharp and frequent a conflict for them or what their circumstances dictate, and what is Christian.” This does not require any specific policies, as it is not “a programme for a party, but a way of life for a people.” Therefore, cultural Christianity also encompasses the popular evangelical writer Aaron Renn’s description of a “Positive World,” where Christianity is the norm and it is in fact beneficial to be a Christian. 

In short, a “Christian Culture” is one where Christianity is not only tolerated, but where the Christian way of life is promoted and not obstructed by either state or culture. This debate often serves as a proxy for other contentions, such as whether society should be “value neutral.” Cultural Christianity serves as a clear object of criticism for progressive Christians, who deride it as “Bible Belt Religion” and usually ascribe to it the accusation that it is complicit in various isms. However, Dostoevsky, in a dialogue from his novel Demons, provides a very different answer to the question of Cultural Christianity, albeit in a surprising dialogue.

In Part II, Chapter 7 of Demons, the characters are gathered together to discuss their revolutionary ideology. Before the conversation, Liputin, an elderly atheist and liberal, tries to engage a Major from the Army on the subject of religion. This major had earlier told Liputin he did not believe in God. However, here he changes course and criticizes Liputin’s atheism. When pressed, he ends up volunteering an often overlooked, though crucial description of his own concept of cultural Christianity, including how a Christian society can bring people closer to God:

What if I did, it’s a different matter with me! Maybe I do believe but not quite. Though I don’t fully believe, still I’m not going to say that God should be shot. Back when I was serving with the hussars, I kept reflecting about God. It’s an accepted fact in all poems that a hussar drinks and carouses; so, sir, maybe I did drink, but would you believe, I used to jump out of bed in the middle of the night, just in my socks, and start crossing myself in front of the icon, asking God to send me faith, because even then I couldn’t be at peace: is there a God or not? I really had a hot time of it! In the morning I’d get distracted, of course, and faith would seem to disappear again.

The Major, in his earlier career of a hussar did not lead a pious Christian life, nor did he have a solid and unshaking faith. The dialogue shows he is generally ambivalent towards religion. However, because he lived in a Christian society, that of 19th Century Russia, he still knows, even if he is uncertain, that God is waiting for him and that he can go to Christ in times of hardship.

The Major’s description of his earlier experience as a hussar thus shows us the tangible and actual benefit of cultural Christianity. The major, in his times of doubt and uncertainty, is able to find God and will wake up and cross himself. By telling us first of the nihilism of the life of a hussar, in particular the drinking and carousing, the major is telling us that God provided him the path out of that life and out of nihilism, even if he chose (at least temporarily) not to take that path. 

At the same time, the Cultural Christianity of the Major does not necessarily lead him towards virtue. As many of the detractors of cultural Christianity point out, it is Christ, not a Christian culture, that saves us from sin. Dostoevsky understands this point. The major is not made any more virtuous nor is he necessarily brought closer to God by the culture. After all, sin is universal, both in our times and past, including in a Christian culture. However, the fruits of such a culture cannot be ignored because of the ever-present sinfulness of man. 

Dostoevsky’s portrayal of the Major in this scene can be considered a realistic praise of the benefits of a Christian culture while acknowledging that a Christian culture alone is not necessarily a pious one. While we hope that people would turn to God in both good times and bad, a culture infused with Christianity will nevertheless enable those going through hardships to know that God is there and that they can turn towards Him at any point.

This ultimately is the benefit of a Christian culture, as by having Christ as the unmovable rock at the center of culture, it gives those lost and drifting a place to find God. Man cannot simply find God on his own in a vacuum, which is why God revealed himself first to the Jewish people and then to all mankind through the Incarnation, and continuously since through the sacraments.

Similarly, a Christian culture helps promote the Great Commission by making available what God revealed to man, so that man might know where to find grace. Many people today are rudderless, and know very little about God or Christianity. In a 2021 conversation with First Things, the prominent evangelical author Kerby Anderson made the case that most people, especially the young, and even many self-professed Christians, lack basic knowledge of Christian belief. Those who are disconnected from the root of Christianity also find themselves disconnected from the literary and cultural fruit of the Christian tradition. How can one understand Dante, Shakespeare, or Milton, without first understanding Christianity on some level?

Based on my own experience in college, most students have no basic understanding of Christianity or Christian theological principles. This separation from both Christianity and Western culture has caused many people to turn to increasingly shallow ideologies, as they do not know where or how to look for God in our secular culture. The rapid growth of gender ideology and identity politics can be seen as a symptom of this, where a decidedly anti-Christian culture prevents many from finding the meaning, help, or peace present in a Christian life. 

Furthermore, this has caused an explosion of various forms of self-destructive nihilism, such as the increasing prevalence of opiods and the massive 36% increase in the number of suicides between 2000 and 2021. The antidote to this is the return of Christian culture. Just as in Dostoevsky’s Demons, a Christian culture encourages all to look for God in times of need and thus is a net benefit to both society as a whole and to individuals who would find it easier to find God.

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