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12 The Gospel in Dostoyevskyare miracle, mystery, and authority. You have rejected all threeand have set the example for doing so. When the wise and dreadspirit set you on the pinnacle of the temple and said to you, “Ifyou would know whether you are the Son of God, then cast yourselfdown, for it is written: the angels shall hold him up lest hefall and bruise himself, and you shall know then whether you arethe Son of God and shall prove then how great is your faith inyour Father.” But you refused and would not cast yourself down.Oh! of course, you did proudly and well, like God; but the weak,unruly race of men, are they gods? Oh, you knew then that intaking one step, in making one movement to cast yourself down,you would be tempting God and would have lost all your faithin him, and would have been dashed to pieces against that earthwhich you came to save. And the wise spirit that tempted youwould have rejoiced.“‘But I ask again, are there many like you? And could youbelieve for one moment that men too could face such a temptation?Is the nature of men such that they can reject miracles andat the great moments of their life, the moments of their deepest,most agonizing spiritual difficulties, cling only to the free verdictof the heart? Oh, you knew that your deed would be recorded inbooks, would be handed down to remote times and the utmostends of the earth, and you hoped that man, following you, wouldcling to God and not ask for a miracle. But you did not know thatwhen man rejects miracles, he rejects God too; for man seeks notso much God as the miraculous. And as man cannot bear to bewithout the miraculous, he will create new miracles of his own forhimself and will worship deeds of sorcery and witchcraft, thoughhe might be a hundred times over a rebel, heretic, and infidel.You did not come down from the cross when they shouted toyou, mocking and reviling you, “Come down from the cross and