The Space In Between

A recurring theme throughout Crime and Punishment is liminality: the state of being in between. Hence the bridges, the dual personality and the split rationale of Raskolnikov. For example, when he sees the drunken young girl being followed by an ill-intentioned man, he first wants to help her out of her predicament. After a few minutes of this, he changes his mind - for why should he be concerned with the girl’s fate? It is of no matter to him, so suddenly, he doesn’t care anymore. This is liminality - the state of being in between two opposites, extremes. Liminality is the essence of being in the middle of a dichotomy, and Raskolnikov is a master of it.
But what if liminality is a sacred thing? Consider Joel 2:17:

Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O LORD.’

There it is - the state of being in between. But there’s a much deeper meaning to this liminality, considering the nature of its context. God is calling for the people of Israel to repent. The altar is the dwelling place of God Himself and the temple porch is where the people come to pray. The priests are the only ones permitted to cross over the porch and approach the altar.

Remember Keats referring to the liminality of the urn?
“Oh mysterious priest, lead’st thou ...”
Just as the urn was a picture of the ‘crossing over’ from life into death, the priests are the mediators between the sacred and secular. Now, consider this:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people belonging to God,
that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
-1 Peter 2:9.

Because Jesus broke into the liminality between heaven and earth, we have now been called from the temple porch and up to the altar. And we are now the priests of our generation.

So though Raskolnikov is a poor example of the true purpose of liminality, those of us who follow Christ are called into it. To be ambassadors of heaven on earth, to live between the supernatural and the natural. And I think that’s pretty cool.

Soli Deo Gloria.