From his questionings, then, Ivan has developed a long prose poem entitled "The Grand Inquisitor" in which he envisions Christ returning to earth. He is again threatened with death, but this time He is indicted by the church. Christ's second death is demanded because the cardinal explains that mankind is too debased to accept the ideas advocated by Christ. The church, consequently, has taken away the freedom that Christ promised man, and for man's good it has enslaved him. In this poem, Ivan reveals the depths of his compassion for mankind, creatures who he feels do not have the strength to follow the strenuous demands made by Christ.
Ivan supports a general acceptance of Christian morality because he feels that if the average man does not have some type of dictate to follow, an era of lawlessness ensues. Faith in immortality and a healthy fear of retribution are great deterrents to crime, Ivan believes, for with no immortality, logically "anything is allowed." It is this statement, which Ivan expresses to the servant Smerdyakov, that leads to the murder of Fyodor Karamazov. Smerdyakov, convinced that anything is permissible if there is no divine retribution, feels free to commit any act; he chooses parricide.
