In Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Legend of the Grand Inquisitor," the most eloquent and shattering statement is the Silence of Jesus. Indeed, almost from the first moment after Christ arrived in Russia his silence has been speaking volumes. Jaroslav Pelikan, a preeminent historian of Christianity--the author of The Christian Tradition, Jesus Through the Centuries, Mary Through the Centuries and other works--explores the Holy Silence of the Russian Christ as both theory and practice, in words, images, and music, from its roots on the holy mountain of Mount Athos to its supreme expression in Dostoevsky's portrait of the Prisoner.

This presentation is held in conjunction with the year-long program, Arts of the Sacred: Crossing the Boundaries of Place and Perception, part of a three-year interdisciplinary project, funded in part by the Ford Foundation, on Area Studies, Identities, and the Arts.

Hosted by: Russian and East European Center,  UIUC/Ford Program

In conjunction with: Department of the Classics, Department of History, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Program for the Study of Religion, Program in Comparative and World Literature