Books that have shaped my Philosophy of Religion
Explore the books that shaped my Philosophy of Religion, from classic texts to modern insights. Discover transformative reads on faith, reason, and spirituality.
Book
The Gospel in Brief
by graf Leo Tolstoy
?Are you acquainted with Tolstoy?s The Gospel in Brief? At its time, this book virtually kept me alive. . . . If you are not acquainted with it, then you cannot imagine what an effect it can have upon a person.??Ludwig Wittgenstein, in a letter to Ludwig von Ficker. ø The Gospel in Brief is Leo Tolstoy?s integration of the four biblical Gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. Inspired in large measure by Tolstoy?s meticulous study of the original Greek versions of the Bible, The Gospel in Brief is a highly original fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy?s own influential religious views. ø Tolstoy explains that his goal is a solution to ?the problem of life,? not an answer to theological or historical questions. As a result, he sets aside such issues as Jesus? genealogy and divinity, or whether Jesus in fact walked on water. Instead, he focuses on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what Tolstoy regarded as the Church?s distortions and focus on dogma and ritual. The result is a work that emphasizes the individual?s spiritual condition in a chaotic and indifferent world. ø Like Tolstoy?s celebrated literary achievements, The Gospel in Brief has the distinct bearing of a classic: in its urgency and directness it is remarkably current, as if it were written only yesterday rather than a century ago.
Book
The Kingdom of God is Within You
by graf Leo Tolstoy
First published in Germany in 1894, after being banned in Russia, The Kingdom of God Is within You reveals Tolstoy’s world outlook after his conversion to Christianity. He argues that the kingdom of God is within reach of all. The core of the book deals with his nonresistance to evil, a principle Tolstoy passionately advocated. Gandhi was won over by the book. Tolstoy clearly describes the hazards that bullying governments and false beliefs produced. “The situation of the Christian part of humanity—with its prisons, forced labor, gallows, saloons, brothels, constantly increasing armaments, and millions of confused people ready like trained hounds to attack anyone against whom their masters set them—this situation would be terrible if it were the product of coercion, but it is above all the product of public opinion.” Abhorring the violence of revolution, Tolstoy calls on Christians to remember that the only guide for their actions is to be found in the divine principle dwelling within them, which in no sense can be checked or governed by anyone or anything else.
