“If blasphemy allows me a small step forward, I blaspheme”

The expression “If blasphemy allows me a small step forward, I blaspheme” captures Roberto’s paradoxical account of religious faith: he is willing to offend God if doing so brings him nearer to God. In a conversation with Giovanna about her doubts, the line rejects obedience as the only measure of devotion and makes questioning part of spiritual approach.

The Exchange About Blasphemy

Giovanna warns Roberto that he is blaspheming. He answers that blasphemy may be warranted if it permits even a small advance. His formulation does not present irreverence as an end in itself: the image of a “small step” makes the offense conditional and directional, measured by whether it brings him closer to God.

Faith as a Difficult Approach

Roberto clarifies that he likes God and would do anything—even what offends God—to draw nearer. The apparent contradiction is central to the expression: devotion does not prevent transgression, because the act is framed as a risk undertaken in the service of intimacy. Rather than resolving the tension between reverence and offense, Roberto holds both together.

Advice to Giovanna

The remark comes as Roberto responds to Giovanna’s uncertainty about religious belief. He cautions her against rushing to overturn everything and recommends patience, arguing that the Gospel story says more than she currently finds in it. Giovanna explains that she began reading the Gospels because Roberto had spoken about them in church and made her curious; his advice therefore returns her to a text she has approached through his influence, but asks her to read it again on its own terms.

Roberto identifies passion and the cross—suffering—as the Gospels’ central matter, and as the thing that most disorients Giovanna. His blasphemy remark consequently belongs to a larger counsel: doubt need not be settled immediately, and a difficult or even offensive step may still be part of moving toward faith. The expression makes that approach tentative rather than triumphant, preserving the possibility that spiritual understanding remains unfinished.