The Kingdom of God is Within You
Leo Tolstoy, My Old Classics, My Old Classics
- 483 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
The Kingdom of God is Within You
Leo Tolstoy, My Old Classics, My Old Classics
About This Book
The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy - The title of the book originates from Luke 17: 21. In the book, Tolstoy speaks of the principle of nonviolent resistance when confronted by violence, as taught by Jesus Christ. When Christ says to turn the other cheek, Tolstoy asserts that Christ means to abolish violence, even the defensive kind, and to give up revenge. Tolstoy rejects the interpretation of Roman and medieval scholars who attempted to limit its scope.Tolstoy was largely inspired by the writings of American Christian anarchists Adin Ballou and William Lloyd Garrison, who also shared his viewpoint that all governments who waged war were an affront to the New Testament and Christian ethics. Tolstoy discusses Ballou and Garrison's texts and biographies at length in the book, including a whole excerpt of Ballou's Non-Resistance Catechism (originally published in 1844).