What I Believe [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

Originally published in 1885, What I Believe is part of series of books by novelist Leo Tolstoy that outline his personal interpretation of Christian theology. After a midlife crisis at age 50, he began to believe in the moral teachings of Christianity, while rejecting mysticism and organized religion. He believed that pacifism and poverty were the paths to enlightenment. His precepts of nonviolence even influenced Mohandas Gandhi. Students of religion, political science, and literature alike will gain new understanding from the ideas presented in this book. Students of literature will get to understand more deeply one of the greatest novelist in history, while those interested in religion and politics can see how Tolstoy's philosophy came to influence the world at large. Russian writer COUNT LEV ("LEO") NIKOLAYEVICH TOLSTOY (1828-1910) is best known for his novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877).

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602067228
• ISBN-13: 978-1602067226
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,925,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening, January 9, 2007

By 

L. Humphreys (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What I Believe (Paperback)

If you love learning about world religion and looking for insight into why religion today is what it is, this is a wonderful comparative literature that is truly well researched, though out, and controversial. It was a really hard book to find, banned for many years. It is the book that inspired Gandhi to become the man that changed India. It explores the personal stuggles of Tolstoy and is not his characteristic writing style. Easy to read and very understandable. It is a thought provoking and wonderful book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely relevant to our modern world!, November 24, 2010

By 

Jeremy Gross (seattle, wa usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I actually have a different printing of this book, but it has seriously affected my world view, as it did for Mahatma Gandhi.

A small sampling of Tolstoy's insights to Christianity from this work, and how it is extremely relevant to modern society and current politics is the subject of the second half of one of my recent blog posts here:[...] As I mention in the post, the historical interpretations of scripture as presented by Tolstoy seem to match expert knowledge of the period, as the PhD Archeologist I met in Rome explained to me.

This book will change how you view and understand Christianity. Or, it did for me at least. But then again I was raised as a Right Winged, Home Schooled, Christian American Republican. Prepare to have much of that like completely shattered beyond hope of repair as Tolstoy analyzes the original meaning and understanding of many of Christs teachings, without the misrepresentations of the church. As a bonus: Gain valuable counter points for the so called biblical literalists you may run into from time to time. (Even more of which can be found elsewhere on my blog.)

Anyway: Tolstoy gets 5 stars from me! And presumably Gandhi also, given he modeled his work in large part on Tolstoy's explanation of Christs teachings from this volume. So if you don't believe me, take Gandhi's word for it!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Riddled with Typo's, December 31, 2009

By 

Paul784 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

The first page of this edition kindly asks the reader to "forgive any spelling mistakes [and]missing or extraneous characters." This edition is riddled with errors. A sentence on page 7 reads "I understand that Jesus in-noj$a$ commands me to turn the other cheek and to give upmyC(Jat, for sheer sufFering-'s sake; but commands me not to resiStrevil, and warns me that my obedience may entail suffering." I strongly encourage you to buy a different edition of this book that is readable.