The Eastern Orthodox writer Paul Evdokimov writes :
According to the Bible, the fool is free to say in his heart: “There is no God.” However, the meaning of the negation changes according to the level of depth and suffering in the one who denies. That is why “Perfect atheism (perfect here means lived even to suffering) is at the top of the ladder, on the second last step before perfect faith,” as Dostoievski affirms. When, far from formless indifference, atheism and faith are carried to “perfection”, they can meet together above senseless talk, in the silent combat of the angel with Jacob, and of grace with despair. Consistent atheism, burning with suffering, knows its own paradoxical cross. At the end of his life, on notes scribbled at the height of his madness, Nietzsche wrote his definitive name–the Crucified. Likewise the atheistic Great Inquisitor made fun of materialism and positivism, but he attained his true grandeur in his passion for man. His no, in spite of himself, would almost participate in the love of God for man, though he is not conscious of this. Perhaps passion for man goes beyond a certain level that is merely human. Is not the essence of the divine heart this same passion, and would there not be here one of those mysterious “passages to the limit” [i.e., `liminal stages' --ed.]? Perhaps it is necessary to be a saintly “philanthropist”, in the manner of God, in order to feel the deep correspondence. There exists a purifying atheism, according to the words of Jules Lagneau, “that salt which hinders belief in God from corrupting itself”. In this function of protection and safeguard, it cooperated with grace. That is why the Christ of the Legend of Dostoievski is silent, and kisses the face of the Great Inquisitor contracted with suffering.
