Rasputin and Romans 6

In his Tyndale series Romans commentary, F. F. Bruce offers the following colorful, if also sad, illustration as he discusses Rom 6:

A notable historical instance [of a tendency to read Paul as advocating antinomianism] may be seen in the Russian monk Rasputin, the evil genius of the Romanov family in its last years of power. Rasputin taught and exemplified the doctrine of salvation through repeated experiences of sin and repentance; he held that, as those who sin most require most forgiveness, a sinner who continues to sin with abandon enjoys, each time he repents, more of God’s forgiving grace than any ordinary sinner.1

A reported discussion between Rasputin and one Vera Zhukovskaya expresses a similar example of Rasputin’s saddening and disturbingly illogical “evil genius” on this topic.2


  1. Bruce, Romans (affiliate disclosure), 134. 

  2. Radzinsky, Rasputin File (affiliate disclosure), 240. 

Some of the links above may be “affiliate links.” If you make a purchase or sign up for a service through one of these links, I may receive a small commission from the seller. This process involves no additional cost to you and helps defray the costs of making content like this available. For more information, please see these affiliate disclosures.


5 responses to “Rasputin and Romans 6”

  1. Brian LePort Avatar

    Wow, that is fairly insane. It seems especially odd since Paul foresees this question and answers it.

    1. David Stark Avatar

      Indeed, in fact, when I saw those few sentences in Bruce’s commentary, I thought they must have been simply a legendary development from Rasputin’s otherwise diabolically painted career. But, then to find substantially the same sentiment in a monograph about Rasputin suggests that he actually did hold such an “insane” position. Of course, sadly, neither is his example the only one of similar insanity in the history of interpretation. 🙁

  2. Brian LePort Avatar

    @David: No worries, I do think juxtaposing his views with Rom. 6 is appropriate though.

  3. waterfallmagazine.com Avatar

    https://waterfallmagazine.com
    Hi, after reading this awesome article i am too glad to share my familiarity here with friends.

Leave a Reply to David Stark Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Posted

by