How does Duncan Trussell explain Dostoevsky's view of Paul on the road to Damascus?

Duncan Trussell says Dostoevsky, in The Brothers Karamazov, takes a Christian existentialist view of Saul's conversion. If Jesus had simply touched Saul and magically changed him, there would be no free will in it. What matters is that Saul chose to stop being a persecutor. Trussell says this means anyone can change radically at any moment. Joe Rogan was more sceptical and noted that the story rests on Paul's own word.

• Trussell reads Paul's blindness as a symbol of people blind to a transcendent reality.
• Rogan says claiming a vision of Jesus would be an effective way to make people follow you.

▸In their words

“anyone can have the road to Damascus experience at any moment.” Duncan Trussell · at 2:18:01 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-10-23). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode