The Gospel in Brief

This year is the centenary of Tolstoy's death, so the appearance of this powerful book is timely. Some readers will know that Tolstoy was excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church and was a strong supporter of the sermon on the Mount and nonviolence, which he felt had been betrayed by the churches. Informed by higher criticism, Tolstoy rejects the idea of the literal truth of the Bible and also its supernatural elements. Hence his version of the Gospel omits miracles and ends with the crucifixion. The structure of a book is based around Tolstoy's metaphysical interpretation of the Lord's prayer which makes a powerful framework. The emphasis is therefore on his teaching, which Tolstoy regards as 'the purest and most complete doctrine of life, and the highest of light which the human mind has ever reached.' So it does not matter to him whether Jesus was a god, but rather to know what his teaching essentially is and how to apply it. Interestingly, Wittgenstein remarked that the book virtually kept him alive in a dark period, saying 'you cannot imagine what effect it can have upon a person.' In the margin the reader can see the sources Tolstoy used and he provides a short summary at the end, saying that the wisdom of life is the recognition of one's own life as the offspring of the Father's spirit.