536 lines
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536 lines
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<td valign="top" ><p style="text-align: right;">"It is of great importance to straighten out this inverting of the relationship, criticizing Christ by Paul, the Master by the disiple." <em>Kierkegaard,</em><em> My Task (1855)<br /></em></p></td>
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<h3>Recommendations</h3>
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<p><a href="/Audio/music-store-manager.html">Only Jesus</a> (great song by Big Daddy)</p>
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<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/justjesus0ece-20">Just Jesus: His Living Words (2011)</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/jesusonchurchstructure-20">Jesus' Words on Church Structure</a> by S. Rives</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.jesusfocusedpublishers.com/"></a></p>
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<p> </p> </div>
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<h2>Tolstoy on Paulinism</h2>
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<h3>Overview</h3>
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<p>In <em>My Religion </em>(1884), Tolstoy explains Christianity went off the rails initially with Paul who knew nothing of Jesus's ethical teachings:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The separation between the doctrine of life and the explanation of life<strong><em> began with the preaching of Paul </em></strong>who knew not the ethical teachings set forth in the Gospel of Matthew, and who preached a <strong><em>metaphisico-cabalistic theory entirely foreign to Christ</em></strong>; and this separation was perfected in the time of Constantine, when it was found possible to <strong><em>clothe the whole pagan organization of life in a Christian dress</em></strong>, and without changing it to call it Christianity." (Leo Tolstoy, <em>My Religion</em> (1884) at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA219#v=onepage&q=pagan%20organization&f=false">219</a>.)</p>
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<p>Later Tolstoy will explain what happened by an analogy to an original pilot who had rules replaced by a new pilot who has no rules but only dogma to accept:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Imagine a number of men rowing a boat, a pilot steering. The men <em><strong>rely upon the pilot</strong></em>, and the pilot steers well; but after a time <em><strong>the good pilot is replaced by another</strong></em>, who <strong><em>does not steer at all.</em></strong> The boat moves along rapidly and easily. At first the men do not notice the negligence of the new pilot; they are only pleased to find that the boat goes along so easily. Then they <strong><em>discover that the new pilot is utterly useless</em></strong>, and they mock at him, and drive him from his place." <em>Id., </em>at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA225#v=onepage&q&f=false">225</a>.</p>
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<p>Tolstoy perceives the church led by the new pilot (<em>i.e.</em>, Paul) is now recognized as useless to give meaning to life. Regardless, men who do know about Jesus and even hate his name are still drawn to Jesus' principles that they have unconsciously absorbed. In this time when people might be prepared to call back the first pilot (Jesus), the church is afraid to call upon Him to return to restore the right principles of living. Instead, the majority of society and the church as a whole are clinging onto the belief that the only rules for life come from government. In the modern world, most think it is not important to return to Jesus and His principles. Instead, most believe the state must be obeyed as ministers of God (as Paul taught in Romans 13:1). As a result, life has now become devoid of meaning to the great masses:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The distinctive trait of civilized man is to obey what the majority of men regard as iniquitous, contrary to conscience.<strong><em> I seek in vain in civilized society as it exists to-day for any clearly formulated moral bases of life</em></strong>. There are none. No perception of their necessity exists. On the contrary, we find the <em><strong>extraordinary conviction that they are superfluous</strong></em>; that <span class="gstxt_hlt"><strong><em>religion </em></strong></span><strong><em>is nothing more than a few words about God and a future life</em></strong>, and a few ceremonies very useful for the salvation of the soul according to some, and good for nothing according to others; but that life happens of itself and has no need of any fundamental rule, and that w<em><strong>e have only to do what we are told to do</strong></em>." <em>Id.</em>, at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA233#v=onepage&q&f=false">233</a>.</p>
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<p>Tolstoy says the solution is now to go back to the <em><strong>original pilot - Jesus</strong></em>. We need to restore the church to Jesus-Words-Only (to use my phrase), and leave the old dogma-laden church to its dissolution:</p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="gtxt_body">"The truth of the </span><span class="gtxt_body"><strong><em>doctrine of Jesus</em></strong></span><span class="gtxt_body">, once unconsciously absorbed by humanity through the organism of the Church, must now be<em><strong> </strong></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><strong>consciously recognized</strong></em></span><span class="gtxt_body">; for in the truth of this doctrine humanity has always obtained its vital force. Men must lift up the torch of truth, which has<strong> </strong></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><strong>so </strong></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><strong>long remained concealed</strong></em></span><span class="gtxt_body">, and carry it before them, guiding their actions by its light.</span></p>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span>
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<div class="flow" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a id="PA238" class="page"></a> </span>
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<p class="gtxt_body" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"The </span><em>doctrine of Jesus</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, as a </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">religion </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">that governs the actions of men and </span><em>explains to them the meaning of life</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, is now before the world just as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Formerly the world had the explanations of the Church which,</span> <em>in concealing the doctrine</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, seemed in itself to offer a satisfactory interpretation of life ; but </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">now the time is come</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> when the Church has lost its usefulness, and the world, having no other means for sustaining its true existence, can only feel its helplessness and </span><em>go for aid directly to the doctrine of Jesus</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA238#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">238</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy concludes with an exaltation of Jesus' doctrine as shining forth still boldy if anyone would but read it:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;" class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"The doctrine of Jesus is the light. The light shines forth, and the darkness cannot conceal it. Men cannot deny it, men cannot refuse to accept its guidance. They</span> <em>must depend on the doctrine of Jesus</em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, which penetrates among all the errors with which the life of men is surrounded. Like the insensible ether filling universal space, enveloping all created things, so the doctrine of Jesus is inevitable for every man in whatever situation he may be found. Men cannot refuse to recognize the doctrine of Jesus; they may deny the metaphysical</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> explanation of life which it gives (we may deny everything), but the</span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em> doctrine of Jesus alone offers rules for the conduct of life</em></span><span class="gtxt_body"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">without which humanity has never lived, and never will be able to live; without which no human being has lived or can live, if he would live as man should live, — a reasonable life. The power of the doctrine of Jesus is not in its explanation of the meaning of life, but in the rules that it gives for the conduct of life." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA239#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">239</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy concludes the chapter with this simple principle: "The faith that triumphs over the doctrines of the world is </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">faith in the doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA244#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">244</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<h3 style="font-weight: bold;">Step-by-Step Reading Of Tolstoy</h3>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let's go back now and see Tolstoy's reasoning in the greater context. Leading into the first quote about Paul, Tolstoy writes, beginning on page 218:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"I became convinced that the doctrine of the Church, although bearing the name of 'Christian,' is one with</span><span><strong><em> the darkness against which Jesus straggled</em></strong></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and against which he commanded his disciples to strive....</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"But, with regard to the doctrine of Jesus, as with regard to all other doctrines, </span><em><span>men wander from its precepts</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and they always</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>find some one to justify their deviations</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Those who, as Jesus said, sit in Moses' seat, explain the metaphysical theory in such a way that</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> the </span><span>ethical prescriptions</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> of the doctrine </span><em><span>cease to be regarded as obligatory</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and are</span><em><span> replaced by external forms of worship</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, by ceremonial. This is a condition common to all re</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ligions, but, to me, it seems that it never has been manifested with so much pomp as in connection with Christianity, — and for two reasons: first, because the </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>doctrine of Jesus is the most elevated of all doctrines</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (the most elevated because the metaphysical and ethical portions are so closely united that one cannot be separated from the other without destroying the vitality of the whole) ; second, because the doctrine of Jesus is in itself</span><span> </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>a protest</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> against all forms, a negation not only of Jewish ceremonial, but of all exterior rites of worship. Therefore, the arbitrary separation of the metaphysical and ethical aspects of Christianity entirely disfigures the doctrine, and deprives it of every sort of meaning." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA218#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 218</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Then appears the quote on Paul above where Pauline doctrine creates this separation which "deprives" Jesus's message of "every sort of meaning."</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Then the text continues on page 219:</span></p>
|
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"After Constantine, that arch-pagan, whom the Church in spite of all his crimes and vices admits to the category of the saints, after </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>Constantine</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> began the domination of the councils, and the </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>centre of gravity of Christianity was permanently displaced</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">till only the metaphysical portion was left in view. And this metaphysical theory with its accompanying ceremonial deviated more and more from its true and primitive meaning, until it has reached its present stage of</span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> development, as a doctrine which explains the </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>mysteries of a celestial life beyond the comprehension of human reason</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span>, and, with all its </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>complicated formulas</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span>, gives </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>no religious guidance whatever with regard to the regulation of this earthly life</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id., </span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA219#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">219</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> -220.</span></span></p>
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||
<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">One senses here that Tolstoy balks at the Council of Nicea, and the emphasis about the correct formula to depict Christ, taking the emphasis away from the ethical teachings of Jesus. Tolstoy next makes the point that a religion where belief is all that matters becomes a peculiar one where behavior no longer holds central importance. Tolstoy calls this Pseudo-Christianity:</span></p>
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||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"All religions, with the </span><em><span>exception of the </span></em><span class="gstxt_hlt"><em><span>religion </span></em></span><em><span>of the Christian Church</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, demand from their adherents aside from forms and ceremonies, the </span><em><span>practice of certain actions called good</span></em><span>, and </span><em><span>abstinence from certain actions that are called bad</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. The Jewish </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">religion </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">prescribed circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, the giving of alms, the feast of the Passover. Mohammedanism prescribes circumcision, prayer five times a day, the giving of tithes to the poor, pilgrimage to the tomb of the Prophet, and many other things. It is the same with all other religions. Whether these prescriptions are good or bad, they are prescriptions which exact the performance of certain actions. </span><em><span>Pseudo-Christianity alone prescribes nothing</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. There is </span><em><span>nothing that a Christian is obliged to observe except fasts and prayers</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, which the Church itself does </span><em><span>not recognize as obligatory</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. All that is necessary to the pseudoChristian is the sacrament. But the sacrament is not fulfilled by the believer;</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>it is administered to him by others</span></em><span>.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The pseudo-Christian is</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>obliged to do nothing or to abstain from nothing for his own salvation</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, since the Church administers to him everything of which he has need. The Church baptizes him, anoints him, gives him the eucharist, confesses him, even after he has lost con</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">sciousness, administers extreme unction to him, and prays for him, — and he is saved. From the time of Constantine the Christian Church has prescribed </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>no religious duties to its adherents</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. It has </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>never required that they should abstain from anything</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. The Christian Church has recognized and sanctioned divorce, slavery, tribunals, all earthly powers, the death penalty, and war; it has exacted nothing except a renunciation of a purpose to do evil on the occasion of baptism, and this only in its early days : later on, when infant baptism was introduced, even this requirement was no longer observed." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA220#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">220</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">-21.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy next comments that this has led to a Christianity without Christ:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"The Church </span><em><span>confesses the doctrine of Jesus in</span></em><em><span> </span></em><em><span>theory</span></em><span>,</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> but </span><em><span>denies it in practice</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Instead of guiding the life of the world, the Church, through affection for the world, expounds the </span><em><span>metaphysical doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">in such a way as</span><em><span> not to derive from it any obligation as to the conduct of life</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, any necessity for men to live differently from the way in which they have been living. The Church has surrendered to the world, and simply follows in the train of its victor. The world </span><em><span>does as it pleases</span></em><span>, and</span><em><span> leaves to the Church the task of justifying its actions</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> with explanations as to the meaning of life. The world organizes an existence in </span><em><span>absolute opposition to the doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and the Church endeavors to demonstrate that </span><em><span>men who live contrary to the doctrine of Jesus really live in accordance with that doctrine</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. The final result is that the world lives a </span><em><span>worse than pagan existence</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and the Church not only approves, but maintains that this existence is in exact conformity to the doctrine of Jesus." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA221#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 221</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy then says the light from Jesus's words are still powerful, and sometimes break through the cloud used to keep them from us:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"But a time comes when the light of the </span><em><span>true doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> shines forth from the Gospels, notwithstanding the </span><em><span>guilty efforts of the Church to conceal it</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">from men's eyes, as, for instance, in prohibiting the translation of the Bible ; there comes a time when the light reaches the people, even through the medium of sectarians and free-thinkers, and the falsity of the doctrine of the Church is shown so clearly that men begin to transform the method of living that the Church has justified." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA222#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">222</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy sees steps have been taken despite the church that approximate better Jesus's teachings, </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">e.g.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, end of popery and divine rights of kings, charity of property, etc. But this movement of civil rights breaks down the authority of the church, transfering power to secular authorities. The church which abandoned Christ long ago is left with empty dogmas and buildings:</span></p>
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||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"And in this way the conduct of human life is freed from the control of the Church, and subjected to an entirely different authority. The Church retains its dogmas, but what are its dogmas worth ? A metaphysical explanation can be of use only when there is a doctrine of life which it serves to make manifest. But the Church possesses</span><span> </span><em><span>only the explanation of an organization which it once sanctioned, and which no longer exists</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The Church has nothing left but temples and shrines and canonicals- and vestments and words." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA222#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">222</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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||
<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The church which abandoned Christ's teachings for dogma alone finds itself abandoned and powerless in the world. What the church professed that came from Christ but which the church abandoned lives on in the modern movements for progress. However, the church has no influence over them because the church abandoned these equality-promoting messages long ago:</span></p>
|
||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"All these churches — Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant — are like so many sentinels still keeping careful watch before the prison doors, although the prisoners have long been at liberty before their eyes, and even threaten their existence. All that actually constitutes life, that is, the activity of humanity towards progress and its own welfare, socialism, communism, the new politico-economical theories, utilitarianism, the liberty and equality of all social classes, and of men and women, all the moral principles of humanity, che sanctity of work, reason, science, art, — all these that lend an impulse to the world's progress in hostility to the Church are</span><span> only</span><em><span> fragments of the doctrine which the Church has professed, and so carefully endeavored to conceal</span></em><span>.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> In these times, the life of the world is entirely independent of the doctrine of the Church. The</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Church is left so far behind</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, that men no longer hear the voices of those who preach its doctrines. This is</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> easily to be understood because the Church still clings to an organization of the world's life, which has been forsaken, and is rapidly falling to destruction." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA224#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">224</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">-225.</span></span></p>
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<p><span>Tolstoy then explains how the church became a shell following Paul's dictum to obey the government in all things. (Paul's Epistle to the Romans ch. 13). Tolstoy laments our faith is<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong> not</strong></span> entwined with ethics, but instead is all about dogmas / beliefs. Thus, rather than transforming the world with higher ethical principles to stop evil, the church now defends all things which promotes the ruler's interest:</span></p>
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||
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"A century ago, and among the ignorant now, the nominal Christian makes this reply: " Compulsory military service, wars, tribunals, and the death penalty, all exist in obedience to the law of God transmitted to us by the Church. This is a fallen world. All the evil that exists, exists by God's will, as a punishment for the sins of men. For this reason</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>we can do nothing to palliate evil.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> We can </span><em><span>only save our own souls by faith</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, by the sacraments, by prayers, and by submission to the will of God as transmitted by the Church. The Church teaches us that all Christians should</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>unhesitatingly obey their rulers, who are the Lord's anointed, and obey also persons placed in authority by rulers</span></em><span>;</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> that they ought to defend their property and that of others by force, wage war, inflict the death penalty, and in all things submit to the authorities, who command by the will of God." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA227#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">227</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This leads into my favorite passage. Tolstoy says that when he asks Christians why they live at odds with what Jesus's teaches, the Christian responds by despairing of the skepticism of the age, as if anyone who wanted to restore Jesus's words to a priority were a traitor of Christianity:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"When we ask a Catholic, or Protestant, or Orthodox believer why he leads an existence </span><em><span>contrary to the doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, instead of making a correct response he begins to speak of the melancholy state of scepticism characteristic of this generation, of evil-minded persons who </span><em><span>spread doubt</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> broadcast among the masses, of the importance of the future of the existing Church. </span><em><span>But he will not tell you why he does not act in conformity to the commands of the </span></em><span class="gstxt_hlt"><em><span>religion </span></em></span><em><span>that he professes</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Instead of speaking</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> of his own condition, he will talk to you about the condition of humanity in general, and of that of the Church, as if his own life were not of the slightest significance, and his sole preoccupations were the salvation of humanity, and of what he calls the Church." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA228#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">228</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">-229.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When dogma and opinion about Christ is all that is left to Christianity, and Jesus' ethical messages are ignored which give us life, there is no answer one can give to the meaning of life that suffices:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"This subterfuge is employed simply because the believer and the philosopher, aud the average man have </span><em><span>no positive doctrine concerning existence</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and cannot, therefore, reply to the personal question, '' What of your own life ? " They are disgusted and humiliated</span><span><em> a</em></span><span><em>t not possessing the slightest trace of a doctrine with regard to life</em></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">, for no one can live in peace without some understanding of what life really means. But nowadays</span><span> </span><em><span>only Christians cling to a fantastic and worn-out creed as an explanation of why life is as it is</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and is not otherwise. Only Christians give the </span><em><span>name of </span></em><span class="gstxt_hlt"><em><span>relig</span></em></span><em><span>ion to a system which is not of the least use to any one</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Only among Christians is</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>life separated from any or all doctrine</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and left without any definition whatever." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA230#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">230</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Where does that leave anyone? The state becomes the new religion. In other words, when Christians now says that Christianity is not about ethics but belief, and thereby empty Christianity of the religious quality that Jesus also taught besides belief, the masses have one choice left: to have as their religion the obedience to the state's morality. This is the last condition of Christianity without Christ (in reliance upon Paul's dictum to obey rulers):</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"Now their faith is in what they are told to do. The faith of</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>those who deny </span></em><span class="gstxt_hlt" style="font-weight: bold;"><em><span>religion</span></em></span><span class="gstxt_hlt" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">is in a </span><span class="gstxt_hlt" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">religion </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">of </span><em><span><strong>o</strong></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">bedience to the will of the ruling majority</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">; in a word, submission to established authority." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA231#v=onepage&q&f=false" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">231</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And thus believers in Christianity and skeptics end up with the same religion:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"Ask the believers or sceptics of this age, what doctrine of life they follow. They will be obliged to confess that they </span><em><span>follow but one doctrine</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, the doctrine based upon laws formulated by the judiciary or by legislative assemblies, and enforced by the police — the favorite doctrine of most Europeans." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA232#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 232</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy says it is ironic that the only exceptions to these rules are a group of those resisting the current order and who continue the message of Christ but hate his name. (They hate his name because they confuse Christianity as it exists in the Pauline-deformed version of today with the Christ-version which was founded by the true apostles.) Tolstoy explains:</span></p>
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"Fortunately there is a remnant, made up of the noblest minds of the age, who are not contented with this </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">religion, </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">but have an entirely different faith with regard to what the life of man ought to be. These men are looked upon as the most malevolent, the most dangerous, and generally as the most unbelieving of all human beings, and yet they are</span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span>the only men of our time believing in the Gospel doctrine, if not as a whole, at least in part</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">. These people, as a general thing,</span><span> </span><em><span>know little of the doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;"> ; they do not understand it, ....</span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">; often they have </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>nothing but a hatred for the name of Jesus</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> ; but their whole faith with regard to what life ought to be is </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>unconsciously based upon the humane and eternal truths comprised in the Christian doctrine</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. This remnant, in spite of calumny and persecution, are the only ones who do not tamely submit to the orders of the first comer. Consequently they are the only ones in these days who live a reasonable and not an animal life, the </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>only ones who have faith</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">." </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA235#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 235</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The necessity at this juncture is to consciously restore the doctrines of Jesus which are unconsciously being followed by a dissenting but egalitarian movement. Tolstay encourages us to abandon the church which is devoid of Christ's doctrines:</span></p>
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<p class="gtxt_body" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"The truth of the </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>doctrine of Jesus</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, once unconsciously absorbed by humanity through the organism of the Church, must now be </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>consciously recognized</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">; for in the truth of this doctrine humanity has always obtained its vital force. Men must lift up the torch of truth, which has so </span></span><span class="gtxt_body"><em><span>long remained concealed</span></em></span><span class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and carry it before them, guiding their actions by its light.</span></span></p>
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<div class="flow"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a id="PA238" class="page"></a> </span>
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<div class="gtxt_body">
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<p class="gtxt_body" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"The doctrine of Jesus, as a </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">religion </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">that governs the actions of men and explains to them the meaning of life, is now before the world just as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Formerly the world had the explanations of the Church which, in </span><em><span>concealing the doctrine</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, seemed in itself to offer a satisfactory interpretation of life ; but now the time is come when the Church has lost its usefulness, and the world, having no other means for sustaining its true existence, can only feel its helplessness and </span><em><span>go for aid directly to the doctrine of Jesus</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA238#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">238</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;" class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy in the next chapter says following just Jesus's doctrines is the path to happiness and salvation:</span></p>
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<p class="gtxt_body" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"I BELIEVE in the doctrine of Jesus, and this is </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">my religion</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">: — I believe that nothing but the fulfilment of the doctrine of Jesus can give true happiness to men. I believe that the fulfilment of this doctrine is possible, easy, and pleasant. I believe that although none other follows this doctrine, and </span><em><span>I alone am left to practise it, I cannot refuse to obey it</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, if I would save</span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">my </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">life from the certainty of eternal loss; just as a man in a burning house if he find a door of safety, must go out, so I must avail myself of the way to salvation. I believe that </span><span class="gstxt_hlt"><span style="font-weight: normal;">my </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">life according to the doctrine of the world has been a torment, and that a life according to the doctrine of Jesus can alone give me in this world the happiness for which I was destined by the Father of Life. I believe that this doctrine is essential to the welfare of humanity, will save me from the certainty of eternal loss, and will give me in this world the greatest possible sum of happiness. Believing thus, I am obliged to practise its commandments." </span><em><span style="font-weight: normal;">Id.</span></em><span style="font-weight: normal;">, at </span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=EnVFAAAAMAAJ&dq=Leo%20Tolstoy%20My%20Religion&pg=PA245#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-weight: normal;">245</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></p>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;" class="gtxt_body"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tolstoy was the greatest modern proponent of what I call the Jesus' Words Only principle.</span></p>
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<h2 style="font-weight: bold;">Study Notes</h2>
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<p class="gtxt_body">In Wikipedia's article "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Christianity">Pauline Christianity</a>," it records that Tolstoy in<span> </span><em>Church and State </em>(1882) wrote: <span>"This deviation begins from the times of the Apostles and especially from that<strong><em> hankerer after mastership Paul.</em></strong>"</span></p>
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