The Contradictions of The Church and The Doctrine of Christ - Leo Tolstoy

When I began to read Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God Is Within You, it was immediately obvious that
it was a sequel to this volume, What I Believe. Wanting to start at the beginning, I looked for this
volume, only to find that, while the sequel was readily available, What I Believe was downright hard to
find. This transcription is my attempt to correct that deficiency.
Literary purists will be unhappy that I have tried to bring Popoff’s translation up to date with the
changes in grammar and usage that have been made in the last 120 years. (I am unhappy with Popoff’s
use of quotation marks and semicolons, but I have left most of them unchanged.) They will be happier
with Kessinger Publishing’s reprint of the original. I wanted to make this material understandable to the
widest possible audience, and I felt that 19th century style, King James quotations, and outright mistakes
did not serve that end. I made every attempt to remain faithful to Tolstoy’s original intention. If I have
failed in that attempt, I am a reasonable fellow. Point out my errors and I will fix them.
Do I agree with everything that Tolstoy wrote? No. I think he had a romantic and unrealistic notion
of peasant life. He did not account for psychopathic behavior. That is not to say that such behavior
invalidates his conclusions, but it is an omission that some will certainly use against him. He has, by
today’s Protestant standards, a somewhat skewed view of orthodox theology, no doubt because, at the
time he wrote What I Believe, he only knew the teaching of the Russian Orthodox Church of 120 years
ago. It would appear that Tolstoy did not experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which leads him to
think only of ‘reason’ when writing of ‘the light that is within us,’ and does not believe in the devil.
Still, much of what he had to say is as true today as the day he wrote it – and is even true of today’s
Protestant churches.
This transcription is under no copyright protection. It is my gift to you. You may freely copy, print,
and transmit it, but please do not change or sell it.

[FoursWithin]

Thanks for sharing.
Emjoyed hearing his thoughts.

Id preferthhe music lower,
I listened on my headphones
loud for the voice but I still just hurt a little. . Great combo. 👍

[yaroslavchrist]

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[JulianGentry]

Do you also feel, like I do, that Tolstoy "threw the baby out with the bathwater?"
I mean that he had valid criticisms of the Church, but instead of seeing it as an example of the Church going too far on implementing a teaching of Christ, he saw it as an example of the Church being exactly opposite to the teachings of Christ.

Christ preached love, but not tolerance. Tolstoy seems to have concluded that we must tolerate evil since we have no power to do anything on our own. The basis of Christianity is not "Love your enemies, " but "Love God, and Love your neighbor as yourself."
If I love myself, and I see that I am doing something wrong, I should stop myself. The same goes for my neighbors and enemies.
I want to agree with Tolstoy in certain parts, but this keeps bugging me.

[ronabrahams]

I didn't realize Leo was dealing with such a mental debilitation. He was unable to find God's peace through trust and faith in Jesus. So sad!

[bealreadyhappy]

Why on earth do we have to have such loud music and so fast playing in the background which is more really in the foreground! Get rid of it now, not tomorrow now

[bealreadyhappy]

I came to listen to Tolstoy, not I believe Clementi. My ears continually gravitate to the music because I’m a musician.. please please get rid of it. Never put music on again while reciting, Tolstoy.