The Kingdom of God is Within You

by Leo Tolstoy

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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 show more 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.

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8 reviews
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
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
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.
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.
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.
EL REINO DE DIOS ESTA EN VOSOTROS

"El reino de Dios está en vosotros me abrumó. Me marcó para siempre.» Con estas palabras definió Gandhi esta obra tan polémica, por la cual se reconocerá a Tolstói no sólo como a un genio de la literatura, sino también como a un pensador que influyó en los movimientos pacifistas de todo el mundo. En este texto, Lev Tolstói, para quien la no resistencia constituye la esencia del cristianismo, muestra cómo la Iglesia ha pervertido las enseñanzas de Jesús y ha hecho posible conciliar dos conceptos totalmente incompatibles: violencia y religión. El escritor ruso rechaza todos los episodios relacionados con los milagros que encontramos en el Nuevo Testamento, porque considera que estos show more milagros no son más que añadidos posteriores, reflejo de que los hombres no comprendieron la fuerza de la doctrina de Cristo y recurrieron a toda clase de milagros mágicos para justificar su divinidad. La obra fue censurada en Rusia, aunque circuló clandestinamente, fue ampliamente discutida por la crítica rusa, y rápidamente publicada en Alemania, Francia, Inglaterra y Estados Unidos. En 1901 Tolstói fue excomulgado por el Santo Sínodo. Esta edición castellana, cuidadosamente traducida del ruso y por vez primera en su versión íntegra, incluye la correspondencia que mantuvieron Tolstói y Ghandi. show less
EL REINO DE DIOS ESTA EN VOSOTROS
O
EL CRISTIANISMO NO COMO UNA DOCTRINA MISTICA SINO COMO UNA NUEVA CONCEPCION ANTE LA VIDA.

El texto del autor de Guerra y Paz somete a un implacable examen a la Iglesia y al Estado, dos instituciones en su opini´n anticristianas que han desvirtuado el auténtico mensaje de Jesús e , históricamente se han fundamentado en el uso de la violencia.
Y es que , para el escritor ruso, el mal acabará cuando vivamos de acuerdo con las enseñanzas de Jesús y su doctrina de la no resistencia al mal, con la violencia.

en la presente edición traducida directamente del ruso al castellano, encontramos una breve pero muy interesante correspondencia entre Tolstoi y Ghandi.

Algunos capítulos del libro.-
III.- La show more comprensión errónea del cristianismo por parte de los creyentes, de los hombres de ciencia .
V.- La contradicción entre nuestra vida y nuestra conciencia cristiana.
XI.-En nuestra sociedad ha surgido una opinión pública cristiana que inevitablemente pondrá fin al orden establecido basado en la violencia.
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2,482+ Works 129,134 Members
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in Russia. He is usually referred to as Leo Tolstoy. He was a Russian author who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. Leo Tolstoy is best known for his novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several show more novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays. Tolstoy had a profound moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870's which he outlined in his work, A Confession. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. His ideas of nonviolent resistance which he shared in his works The Kingdom of God is Within You, had a profund impact on figures such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. On September 23, 1862 Tolstoy married Sophia Andreevna Behrs. She was the daughter of a court physician. They had 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Their early married life allowed Tolstoy much freedom to compose War and Peace and Anna Karenina with his wife acting as his secretary and proofreader. The Tolstoy family left Russia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent establishment of the Soviet Union. Leo Tolstoy's relatives and descendants moved to Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the United States. Tolstoy died of pneumonia at Astapovo train station, after a day's rail journey south on November 20, 1910 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) Count Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 on the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana in the Tula province. He married in 1862 & was the father of 13 children. Tolstoy managed the estate of Yasnaya Polyana & ran its peasant schools, while writing his great novels, "War & Peace" (1869) & "Anna Karenina" (1877). He died in 1910. (Publisher Provided) show less

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Wiener, Leo (Translator)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
The Kingdom of God is Within You
Original title
Царство Божие внутри вас
Original publication date
1894
Original language
Russian
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Religion & Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
230ReligionChristianityChristianity
LCC
BR121 .T7313Philosophy, Psychology and ReligionChristianityChristianity
BISAC

Statistics

Members
1,295
Popularity
18,580
Reviews
8
Rating
(3.88)
Languages
8 — Dutch, English, French, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
106
UPCs
1
ASINs
35