Sin and grace: The Power and the Glory

죄와 은혜: "권능과 영광"

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between sin and grace represented in The Power and the Glory. This work is composed of two thriller patterns of the pursuer and the pursed. The first pursuit is that the whisky priest, the representative of religious order is pursued by the lieutenant, the representative of secular order. And the second pursuit is that the whisky priest is trying to escape from God. In the course of his flight from God the whisky priest discovers his sinful nature and this self-recognition helps him restore his proper relationship with God. When he was a young priest he had religious piety, but he didn't feel true love for others. Ironically, after he is corrupted he finds his sinful nature and regrets his wrong behavior. He then comes to understand God's will and his responsibility to have love for the miserable human beings. The whisky priest is willing to accept his destiny as a martyr, after having repented his sins to God. Though the lieutenant captures the whisky priest and executes him, he doesn't feel triumph or hope but feels empty. The Power and the Glory shows us the irony that the lieutenant's power is a symbol of his weakness, while the priest's weakness is a symbol of his power.