Leo Tolstoy’s Critique of Church Christianity
Maksymilian ROSZYK
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1497-2471
Abstract
The aim of the paper is a reconstruction and an analysis of Leo Tolstoy’s cri-tique of what he called Church Christianity. In the opening section, Tolstoy’s general conception of religion as a relationship or an attidute of an individual to the world (which forms the background for the critique) is described. Then Tolstoy’s most important criticisms are discussed: (1) marginalization of the authentic teaching of Christ and establishing an alien metaphysical doctrine instead; (2) internal and external problems concerning the doctrine that replace the original one; (3) falsifi cation of the crucial concepts Christ developed; (4) an open denial of certain fundamental teachings of Christ; (5) reducing Christian-ity to idle talk. The paper concludes with some remarks concerning the nature and scope of Tolstoys’s critique.
Keywords:
Tolstoy, Christianity, religion, critique of ChristianityReferences
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