What I Believe; "My Religion," [Paperback]

Leo Tolstoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2012

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1902. Excerpt: ... and he himself is caught in the web of his own weaving; his whole teaching is reduced to naught. This is why, 1900 years after Jesus taught, I was placed in the strange position of having to search for the meaning of his teaching as for something new. Yet in reality I made no discovery. I did no more than all do who are true seekers of God and His law. I perceived the existence of this eternal law in the midst of the confusion which men have called by its name. CHAPTER VI THE NEW COMMANDMENTS And thus, when I understood the law of Jesus to be the law of Jesus, and not that of Moses and Jesus; when I understood that it distinctly denies the law of Moses, the Gospels were to me no longer a heap of obscure and fragmentary contradictions; they formed in my mind a single indivisible whole, from which stood forth complete the grand principles of the teaching of Jesus expressed in five simple and clear commandments (Matt. v. 21-48) accessible to all men, but which to me had hitherto been a sealed book. Through all the Gospels run the commandments of Jesus and our obligations to obey them. All theologians speak of the commandments of Jesus, but what they were I had hitherto not known. To me it had seemed that they consisted in loving God and our neighbour as ourselves. I had not seen that this could not be called the commandment of Jesus, because it is the commandment of the old Mosaic law. The words (Matt. v. 19), "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven," I had thought referred to the commandments of Moses. It had never entered my head that the verses (Matt, v. 21-48) clearly and definitely express the new...

Product Details

• Paperback: 66 pages
• Publisher: General Books LLC (January 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0217904130
• ISBN-13: 978-0217904131
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 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: #1,851,567 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)   

This review is from: What I Believe; "My Religion," (Paperback)

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

This review is from: What I Believe; "My Religion," (Paperback)

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.