Tolstoy

Without a doubt my current favorite writer is Tolstoy. Mostly for his religious writings and the views behind them. People who like Tolstoy but are not religious often dismiss his more philisophical works as the ravings of an old man (in which they are party correct). Many people who do consider themselves Religious will dismiss Tolstoy as not being orthodox enough and prefer someone like C.S Lewis or Dostoevsky who aren’t nearly as hostile to the established Church.

Some selected reading:

• A Confession and Other Religions Writings. This book is a collection of essays describing Tolstoy’s view on religon. I’m particularly fond of the essay “What is Religion and Of What Does It’s Essense Consist”. He speaks directly about why some people feel “spritual” but don’t like “organized religion”.

  Christianity was perverted in the same way as all the other religions with the single difference that precisely because Christianity voiced its fundamental doctrine of equality between all men with such clarity, it was necessary to use special force to distort the teaching and conceal its basic clause. With the help of the concept of the Church this was done to a greater extent than in any other religion.

  And therefore if a religious teaching asserts meaningless propositions that explain nothing but only help to further confuse an understanding of life, it is not a faith but a distortion of it that has already lost the chief characteristic of true faith.

• The Kingdom of God is Within You – A book that inspired Ganhdi. If you don’t want to consider being a pacifist then don’t read this one.
• What is Art?– Interesting point of view on the purpose of Art. A little too much rambing of an old man. He seems to have it in for Wagner and his operas (which frankly i know nothing about). However he does make good points about Art and whether it has a role in the advancement of Humanity or is simply a diversion to fill up the leisure time of the rich.
• Anna Karenina– If you like it in story form then try this one. There’s alot of love story (of all kinds) in there but there is also alot about his beliefs and the meaning of life. You can read Tolstoy’s personal struggles with answering the question of what really matters as the story plays out.

As always, your mileage may vary