The mad monk and the case for good theology

The Oxford Online Dictionary describes theology as “the study of the nature of God and religious belief”. That’s a helpful understanding, but let’s begin with some seriously bad theology as practised by the Russian mystic and faith healer Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. 

Rasputin is oftentimes called “The Mad Monk” after the title of a 1966 film about him, Rasputin: The Mad Monk. Author and historian Aja Raden describes him this way: “He cut a remarkable figure, given his massive size. His long, dirty, tangled hair and his beard didn’t do enough to cover a genuinelyfrightening face that included a broken nose, rotten teeth and cartoonish, demonic eyebrows over his most famous feature: pale mesmeric eyes, featuring pupils he could allegedly contract and expand at will.

“He seemed to take pride in his disgusting appearance—once returning from a pilgrimage having gone six months without changing his clothes. One man claimed he smelled like a goat.”¹

He moved to Saint Petersburg and, in 1903, predicted that Tsarina Alexandra would finally give birth to a son—even though she was ageing and already had four daughters. He even put a one-year deadline on his “prophesy”. Alexei, the heir to the throne, was born in 1904.

After Alexei was diagnosed with hemophilia (a disorder where your blood doesn’t clot properly), the Tsarina met Rasputin, and the relationship was sealed when Alexei fell one day while playing and almost bled to death. “Somehow, Rasputin succeeded in stopping the bleeding, after which he earned Tsar Nicholas’s goodwill and Alexandra’s unwavering devotion.”²

He was accepted into high society while at the same time keeping his low-brow approach to life—he was illiterate, ate with his hands and referred to the Tsar and Tsarina as “Mama” and “Papa”. And he had an open door and acceptance into society—mostly. Raden adds that, “Undoubtedly the royal couple felt really cool having their very own, salt-of-the-earth, peasant holy man—complete with magic powers.”³

but wait, there’s more!

Rasputin never took holy orders to officially be a monk (with a wife and three children he didn’t qualify)—but he did wear the clothes of a monk. His theology came from an apostate sect within the Russian Orthodox Church of the time.

The stand-out belief of this sect was that the only way to reach God was through great sin. Preaching that “without sin, there is no repentance”, Rasputin wandered the country, encouraging sin. He even claimed “he could take on the sins of women . . . by sleeping with them, thereby supposedly helping them find the ‘grace of God’. Essentially, sex with him was like an act of religious purification.”⁴

You don’t have to be a Christian to recognise something so wrong—abhorrent even—with this approach. For those of us who are Christians, we simply need to ask, “How does Rasputin’s approach stack up against the example set by Jesus?” For the Christian, Jesus is our prime example.

the case for Jesus

When Bono, lead singer of U2, was asked about Jesus, he responded, “The secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha or Confucius. But, actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off the hook. 

“Jesus says, ‘I’m not saying I’m a teacher . . . I’m not saying I am a prophet. I’m saying: I’m the Messiah.’ And that makes a huge difference.” Bono suggests we could handle a prophet like John the Baptist. “But don’t mention the ‘M’ [Messiah] word! Because, you know, we’re going to have to crucify you.”⁵

Pastor and cultural critic Timothy Keller unpacks this in his book The Reason for God, “There is, then, a great gulf between understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done. . . . Religion operates on the basis ‘I obey—therefore I am accepted by God.’ But the operating principle of the gospel is ‘I am accepted by God through what Christ has done—therefore I obey’.”⁶

Accepted by God, through Jesus. 

the grace factor

Jesus lays out His vision in John 3:16,17: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”⁷

That’s grace—something undeserved. Paul builds on this in Ephesians 2:8: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Paul also adds in Romans 11:6: “And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.”

Keller points out that the primary difference between religion and the gospel (good news from God) is motivation: “In religion, we try to obey the divine standards out of fear. We believe that if we don’t obey we are going to lose God’s blessing in this world and the next. In the gospel, the motivation is one of gratitude for the blessing we have already received because of Christ.”

Put another way, he adds, “While the moralist is forced into obedience, motivated by fear of rejection, a Christian rushes into obedience, motivated by the desire to please and resemble the one who gave his life for us.”⁸

There’s a recognition of the reality that “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:23,24). That’s empowering.

a problem with grace?

God’s grace truly is amazing. Freely given, He accepts us as we are and helps us become the best version of ourselves. Some see grace as if it were a Monopoly-type “get-out-of-jail-free card”. Nothing could be further from the truth. There’s an expectation of a change in the life of individuals who accept the grace offered—but we don’t do the changing. God does it in us. 

For instance, Jesus was in the temple in Jerusalem teaching when teachers of religious law and Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught having sex while unmarried. In front of the crowd, they challenge Jesus. “Teacher . . . this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” (John 8:4,5). The text specifically tells us that they were attempting to trap Him “into saying something they could use against Him”. 

Jesus doesn’t speak or even ask the obvious question, “Where is the man with whom you were performing the forbidden sex act?” He begins writing in the dust with His finger. What He writes is not known—the sins of the accusers is a popular guess. Finally, Jesus stands up and says to them, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” They quietly slip away from the scene until only Jesus and the woman are left.

Jesus stands and asks, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she says. 

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

She is to go and straighten her life out—to take responsibility for her life. Jesus gave her life back to her. The apostle Paul wrote, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good thing he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:8,10). 

Paul’s main mission in his letters, it seems, is to encourage Christians to work together, supporting each other while promoting and following the way of Jesus. Grace is real, as is the Christian responsibility for others—according to both Jesus and Paul, and other biblical writers. That makes for good and practical theology.

1. Aja Raden, The Truth About Lies: The Illusion of Honesty and the Evolution of Deceit. Atlantic Books, London, 2021. ↩︎
2. Ibid, Raden. ↩︎
3. Ibid, Raden. ↩︎
4. Ibid, Raden. ↩︎
5. Cited in Timothy Keller, The Reason for God. Riverhead Books, New York, 2008. ↩︎
6. Ibid, Keller. ↩︎
7. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. ↩︎
8. Ibid, Keller. ↩︎