God

The Russian Orthodox Church is a powerful force in Leo Tolstoy’s homeland. He is exposed to religion from birth and at times is under the care of pious aunts. When barely out of his teens he becomes deeply impressed by the story of Joseph from the Bible and musings about God are always part of his thinking. In his 20s when struggling to decide what path to take in life he sees a link between God and the bliss he sometimes feels when yearning to be a man of goodness, love and purpose, or when at one with nature. This bliss is a welcome relief from the self-reproach he feels when unable to contain his lustful ways.

As a soldier in the Caucasian and Crimean wars Tolstoy knows that upholding the greatness of the Orthodox Church is one reason he is fighting, and he and his compatriots have holy water sprinkled on them before going into battle. After a conversation about religion he has the idea of starting a back-to-basics religion. It illustrates a disdain for dogma that stays with him all his life and, at times, defines his writing: the kingdom of god has to be practised on earth.

After writing War and Peace, Tolstoy begins to seriously engage with religion in a sustained way. One day while out walking in the forest at Yasnaya Polyana he is struck by the uplifting presence of God all around him. His new-found passion slows down the writing of Anna Karenina. He prays, fasts, reads only religious texts or philosophers on a spiritualist path, and attends mass. The inevitability of death is weighing on him but his preoccupation is not the afterlife but the meaning of life.

Tolstoy’s religious touchstone is The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in particular the Sermon on the Mount and the six commandments: thou shalt love God and thy neighbour as thyself and thou shalt not be angry, not commit adultery, not swear, not resist evil with evil and not have enemies. He studies the text with great gusto, even learning Hebrew in order to read them directly and Dutch because someone directs him to an admired translation in that language.

Because of his new love for God and for God’s teachings he applies himself to writing religious philosophy. Essays flow off his pen: Confession denounces the life he lived as a young man while Union and Translation of the Four Gospels is his interpretation of The Gospels. He becomes a prophet of his own religion and starts to regard 1881 as the year of his rebirth.

As passionately as he throws himself into becoming a true believer, he declares war on the Russian Orthodox Church. Criticism of Dogmatic Theology is the first of many stinging essays. He is a revered writer since the publication of War and Peace, and his criticism of the Church leads to disagreement with some of his valued friends and family members. He frequents a monastery and is quick to champion those persecuted for religious reasons. He very publicly sides with the Dukhobors, for example, and finishes the novel Resurrection, which he has been writing for nearly a decade, in order to donate the proceeds to the group’s relocation to Canada.

Tolstoyism
Temptations of the flesh
The marriage suffers
The essays