The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Also known as Царство Божие внутри вас
Leo Tolstoy's 1894 Christian anarchist treatise on nonviolent resistance.
At a glance
Key ideas
No violence, even defensive, The Church against Christ, Who defends the order …
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Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Tolstoy argues that when Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he meant to abolish violence, even in self-defence.
- He says the Church had perverted Christ's teaching and separates the Gospel from the state-aligned Russian Orthodox Church.
- The book lays out an organisation of society based on universal love.
- It draws at length on the American Christian anarchists Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison.
Why it matters
- A key text of nonviolent resistance and Christian anarchism; it "overwhelmed" Gandhi and turned James Bevel against killing.
Key facts
- Author
- Leo Tolstoy1
- Published
- 1894, in Germany, after being banned in Russia1
- Title
- From Luke 17:211
- English translation
- Constance Garnett, 18941
Key ideas
-
No violence, even defensive1
Christ's teaching abolishes violence and revenge, not only aggression.
-
The Church against Christ1
Nowhere except in the Church's own claim did Christ found anything like the Church.
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Who defends the order1
Only those who profit from a social order of prisons, armies and wars call it necessary.
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The kingdom within1
Only a nonviolent, peaceful nature leads to the Kingdom of God.
Connections
Written by
Related
- Mahatma GandhiGandhi named it one of the three most important modern influences on his life
Links
Sources
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