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What I believe |  | Author: Leo Tolstoy
Publisher: General Books LLC
Category: Book
Buy New: $9.24
as of 11/27/2009 04:53 CST details
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 380598
Media: Paperback
Pages: 142
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.3
ISBN: 0217904130
EAN: 9780217904131
ASIN: 0217904130
Publication Date: August 18, 2009
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Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: find his happiness in obeying it. It may be said that it is foolish; that, as unbelievers pretend, Jesus was a visionary, an idealist, whose impracticable rules were only followed because of the stupidity of his / disciples. But it is impossible not to admit that Jesus did say very clearly and definitely that which he intended to say: namely, that men should not resist evil; and that therefore he who accepts his' teaching cannot resist. Nevertheless, neither believers, nor unbelievers, understand these words of Jesus in this clear and simple sense. / CHAPTER II THE CENTRAL DOCTRINE When I understood that the words, " Resist not Evil," mean Resist not Evil, all my previous ideas of Christ's meaning were suddenly changed; and I was terrified, not so much at my former ignorance of his teaching as at the strange misinterpretation which had been mine. I knew, we all know, that the essence of Christianity is love. To say, "Turn the other cheek to the smiter, Love your enemies," is to express the vital principle of Christianity. I had known this from childhood; but why had I not understood these simple words simplywithout seeking in them an allegorical sense ? " Resist not evil," means "Resist not evil at any time"; that is to say, " Never employ force, never do what is con- trary to--love; antl"lfinen still' offend you, put up with the offence; employ no force against force." It would be impossible to speak more clearly and simply than this. How, then, could I, believing as I believed, or at least endeavoured to believe, that he who thus spoke is God how could I have ever said that to carry this out is above my strength, is impossible? The mastersayjL t.n..mi . .'.'fj-n and cut wood,", and I answerTrrTcaiuiofr do it of my. unaided strength." Saying this I meaa- oe-afLij£ot...
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| Customer Reviews:
 Apology for Pacifism January 26, 2008
Joe Rae (Canada)
1 out of 22 found this review helpful
Tolstoy complains theologians transformed the commands of Christ into meaning commands that could be practically followed by men in the world.
Out of respect for the same theologians he then goes on to downgrade Christ's command to "love one's enemies" into his practical doctrine of pacifism that man is able to follow.
Tolstoy confidently asserts that his liberating work, "What I Believe", has corrected eighteen centuries of misinterpretation of Christ's teachings by Christendom. His hubris knows no bounds by going on to deny the divinity of Christ. One gets the impression that Tolstoy thinks his book is a better Gospel of Christ than what is offered in the Cannon.
Practically speaking, Tolstoy would have been more productive to mankind completing War and Peace, leaving theology to those who study it.
 Eye opening January 9, 2007
L. Humphreys (Minneapolis, MN USA)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
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.
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