The first and greatest temptation is “to be like God.” When that happens, however, the result is not that we treat one another like gods. Rather, we dehumanize one another. That’s what is at the heart of the desecration of man in modern culture. At the Colson Center National Conference, Dr. Carl Trueman described this by pointing to a Russian novelist.
Here’s Dr. Trueman.
It was not Marx who was the great prophet of the nineteenth century; it was Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky, in his books, of course, explores in powerful ways the inner conflict of the divided human heart and the role of God in how we think about what it means to be human.
This is evident most famously, perhaps in The Brothers Karamazov, though it’s throughout all his works. One of his lesser-read works, but I think a very important work, is his Notes from a Dead House, which is his account of life in a Siberian penal colony after he was sentenced to death, of course, and at the very moment of execution was reprieved and sent to Siberia to be, first of all, at a prison camp, but then in exile for some period of time.
He writes this semi-fictionalized account of his time in prison there. One of the things he does is offer these pen portraits of different prisoners whom he rubbed shoulders with during his time. One of the prisoners who really intrigues him is a very well-spoken, urbane, educated man. Dostoevsky discovers that this very entertaining man, whom he’s come to know, is what we would today call a serial killer. He’s killed many people.
Dostoevsky is intrigued by this. The question is, why would such a well-educated, urbane man engage in such barbarity time and time and time again? And as is the way with Dostoevsky, he offers, I think, a brief but brilliant analysis of the situation of this particular man. He says this, “The first man he killed was an oppressor, an enemy. That is a crime, but it is understandable. He had a reason. But then he kills not an enemy, but the first man he meets, kills him for fun, for a rude word, for a glance, for a trifle, or simply, ‘Out of my way, don’t cross me, I’m coming.’”
See what he said there? The first guy he kills was maybe somebody who cheated him at cards or made a pass at his wife. We don’t approve of people killing people, but you can at least see there was a reason why that guy was killed and not some other guy. But then he says it changes. The bar, if you like, for qualifying for being murdered by this guy drops considerably lower.
Why is that? He said, “Well, it’s like this. It’s as if the man is drunk, as if he’s in a feverish delirium.” And then comes the key couple of sentences. “As if, having leapt over a line that was sacred to him, he begins to admire the fact that nothing is holy for him anymore, as if he feels an urge to leap over all legality and authority at once, and to revel in the most boundless and unbridled freedom, to revel in this thrill of horror, which it is impossible for him not to feel.”
Notice what he’s saying there. Killing another man—or I would say, destroying the image of God in another man—that’s the biggest godlike rush you can get. That’s like having the blood of God himself dripping from your hands.
So, desecration, the destruction of the old sacred order, is exhilarating.
But what are its results? Well, I would say let’s just look . . . where modern man has gleefully, and is gleefully, smashing through the old sacred restrictions. First of all, the sexual revolution. Sexual revolution has divorced sex from religious and social significance. It glories in the destruction of the limits that were once placed on it. And yet, what has it done? I would say it has arguably reduced women to nothing more than pieces of meat. It has destroyed the humanity of countless people.
Why do we think that such destruction of humanity is a good and virtuous thing? It’s desecration. It makes us feel godlike.
Don’t miss a single talk from the 2026 Colson Center National conference. A complimentary video of the talk from Chloe Cole is available as our gift to you, or receive every one of the talks, including those from Carl Trueman, as our thanks for a gift of any amount this month. Go to colsoncenter.org/July.
Photo Credit: © 1872 painting by Vasiley Perov/Wikimedia Commons
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can’t find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
