The Mystery of Sin and Death

In the recent Orthodox Life (which came in last week’s mail) there was a fascinating piece, Dostoevsky’s Spiritual Therapy, written by David Starr, professor at St. John’s College. At one place he cites a chapter from The Devils in which Stavrogin, with no real repentance, conveys to Bishop Tikhon his sins. After he admits to raping a girl that later committed suicide, “Tikhon,” David writes, “assures him that no crime is greater than to offend one of these little ones….”.

Why is such a deed the worst one can do to another person, Professor Starr asks. He concludes:

“Offense and offend do not mean what upsets or make angry, as they seem to now; one might translate the Greek skandalon and skandalizo, cause of sin and cause to sin. Originally a skandalonis is a stumbling block, and to scandalize is to cause another to fall. Our Lord is saying that children who by nature are disposed to faith are tripped into unbelief by older people who create obstacles for them, to the horror of their guardian angels and the sorrow of God. This is how the mystery of sin and death is passed on to each generation of fallen humanity.”