"And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22).
The Christian faith revolves around the idea of The Holy Trinity, which is the belief in the union of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all under one Godhead. Although the three are separate, they are all whole and complete as the same God figure. Throughout the Bible they can be seen working as a single entity or force, "In spite of being different, they are 'one'." (John 10:30) The verse from John shows how the three parts are separate and serve different purposes but work as one. In the first verse, Luke 3:22, the Holy Ghost is depicted as the dove, the voice as God the Father, and Jesus as the Son of God. In the novel Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky utilizes three unlikely characters to portray this same image of the Holy Trinity. The author chooses seemingly morally corrupt and flawed individuals to depict arguably the most divine and godly beings in history. This apparent contradiction unearths a profound irony conveyed by Dostoevsky, and perhaps sheds light on his own views on religion. .
The Life Giver.
The first head in the Holy Trinity is God the Father. He is looked up to for his loving and forgiving nature, yet he also exudes a protective and safe aura that can be seen in the character Razumikhin. Dostoevsky depicts Razumikhin as a superior character that one would look up to from the beginning when Raskolnikov, in despair, goes to him for help. When Razumikhin first sees his old friend, he is overcome with joy and exclaims, "Is it you?My friend, you've cut me out!.Come and sit, you look tired"( 110). Even though Razumikhin mentions, "you've cut me out," indicating that Raskolnikov had shut him out and walked away from him, he is still welcoming and urges him to sit down.
