The Kingdom of God Is within You

by Leo Tolstoy

Paperback, 1984

Status

Available

Call number

BR121 .T6513

Collection

Publication

BISON BOOKS (1984), Edition: 1, 368 pages

Description

New Age. Politics. Religion & Spirituality. Nonfiction. HTML: Initially banned in his home country The Kingdom of God Is Within You is Leo Tolstoy's great non-fictional work. The zenith of Tolstoy's thirty years of Christian thinking, it sets out a plan for a new society guided by a literal Christian interpretation. Christ conceived of a society based on love, compassion and tolerance, and Tolstoy believed this was incompatible with violence. Tolstoy's response is the principle of nonresistance in the face of violence, and that the wars that governments wage were at odds with Christian ideals. He believed we should not be limiting the scope of God's commandments, writing "how can you kill people, when it is written in God's commandment: 'Thou shalt not murder'?" Mahatma Gandhi wrote that The Kingdom of God Is Within You "overwhelmed" and "left an abiding impression" on him, listing it as one of three modern works most influential on his life and philosophy..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member johnkuypers
Thought provoking and radical. A man far ahead of his time as this was written in 1890's. He saw the truth of Jesus message and found war incompatible. Apparently, this book inspired Mahatma Gandhi.
LibraryThing member wishanem
Tolstoy has some ideas which still stand more than a century later. Other ideas, not so much. For instance, he claims that honor will always require that men duel to the death, and only an increase in the practice of Christian morality will solve the problem.
LibraryThing member William-Tucker
a great book that made me think about my life a great deal. However his conclusions regarding Christian morality changing the hearts of violent men, especially those who engage in religious violence such as in the Middle East seems highly naive
LibraryThing member billt568
a great book that made me think about my life a great deal. However his conclusions regarding Christian morality changing the hearts of violent men, especially those who engage in religious violence such as in the Middle East seems highly naive
LibraryThing member m.belljackson
There may be plenty to follow and emulate in Leo Tolstoy's religion conversions and admiration for Quakers,
yet is impossible to believe that he would not protect people from attacks by other humans.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1894

Physical description

368 p.; 8 inches

ISBN

0803294042 / 9780803294042
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