Why was Tolstoy excommunicated? Definition of the Holy Synod on Count Leo Tolstoy

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most prominent Russian writers, known far beyond the borders of his native country. This fact is known to all. But few people know that the famous writer was once persecuted for his views on religion and faith. But why was Tolstoy excommunicated? Why did the great Russian writer not please her?

On Tolstoy's attitude to Christianity

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church, and until a certain time did not show his attitude to religion. However, then his views changed, which can be traced in some of his works, for example, in the novel "Resurrection": here the writer reflects his unwillingness to accept the laws of the church. He denied the existence of the Holy Trinity, did not believe in the virgin birth of the Virgin Mary, and believed that the resurrection of Jesus was just a myth. In other words, the fundamental basis of Orthodoxy was denied, for which Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church. But about everythingokay.

It's all fiction

The writer sincerely did not understand how one can be cleansed of sins simply by coming to confession. It was difficult for him to accept the teaching that there is a hell, there is a paradise, that you can get to heaven after death either through eternal fear for every step you take, or through repentance, while living a godless life. All this seemed to Tolstoy a heresy that had nothing to do with true faith and a good existence. "All the religions of the world are an obstacle to true morality," said Lev Nikolaevich. “And a person cannot be a servant of God, for such a thing would seem vile to God.” The writer also believed that each person is responsible for his own actions, whether they are good or evil. The responsibility for them lies with the person himself, and not the Lord.

Letter to Nobles

In his correspondence with teacher A. I. Dvoryansky Tolstoy writes about how false the teachings of the church are and how wrong we are in inculcating these teachings in children. As Lev Nikolaevich says, children are still pure and innocent, they still do not know how to deceive and, being deceived, absorb false Christian rules. The little man still vaguely imagines that there is a right way, but his ideas are usually correct. Tolstoy writes that children see happiness as the goal of life, achieved by the loving conversion of people.

What do adults do? They teach children that the meaning of life lies in the blind fulfillment of the whims of God, in endless prayers and going to church. Explainthat your personal needs for happiness and well-being should be pushed aside for the sake of what the church ordered to do.

Little children often ask questions about the structure of the world, to which there are quite logical answers, but adults inspire them that the world was created by someone, that people descended from two people who were expelled from paradise, that we all know sinful and must repent.

Moreover, Leo Tolstoy not only denied all this, but also carried his idea to the masses like Martin Luther.

So in the 19th century a new trend was born - "Tolstoyism".

About new ideas

Why was Tolstoy excommunicated? What were the contradictions? "Tolstovism", or, as it is commonly called officially "Tolstoyism", arose in Russia at the end of the 19th century thanks to a Russian writer and his religious and philosophical teachings. He describes the main ideas of "Tolstoyism" in his works "Confession", "What is my faith?", "On Life", "Kreutzer Sonata":

• forgiveness;
• non-resistance to evil by violence;
• rejection of enmity with other nations;
• love of neighbor;
• moral cultivation;
• minimalism as a way of life.

The followers of this trend did not support the need to pay taxes, opposed military service and organized agricultural colonies where all workers are equal. Here it was believed that a person, in order to form a full-fledged personality, needs physical labor onearth.

"Tolstoyism" found its followers outside of Russia: Western Europe (in particular, England), Japan, India, South Africa. By the way, Mhatma Gandhi himself was a supporter of the ideas of Leo Tolstoy.

Food in Tolstoyanism

All followers of the new movement adhered to vegetarian views. They believed that a person who wants to live an honest and kind life should first of all give up meat. Since eating meat requires killing an animal for the sake of greed and the desire to feast. However, the Tolstoyans generally had a special attitude towards animals: despite the fact that a person is obliged to work hard in agriculture, he should not resort to the exploitation of animals.

Criticism of Tolstoyism and excommunication

In 1897, a public figure and church publicist V. M. Skvortsov raised the question of defining a new trend, under the leadership of L. N. Tolstoy as a religious and social sect, whose teachings can be harmful not only for the church, but also for politics.

In 1899, the novel "Resurrection" was published, in which the author's thoughts about the dangers of the Christian religion are clearly traced, which leads to serious confusion both in the Russian church and in the highest political spheres. Soon, Metropolitan Anthony, who had previously thought about the church punishment of Tolstoy, was appointed the first present in the synod. And already in 1901year, an act was drawn up, according to which L. N. Tolstoy was excommunicated as a heretic.

Later, the writer was offered to repent of his sin. Simply put, he was offered to give up his anti-Christian ideas, for which Tolstoy was excommunicated. But the writer never did. Thus, the Determination of the Holy Synod on Count Leo Tolstoy states: the latter is no longer a member of the Orthodox Church, since his views contradict the teachings of the church. To this day, Tolstoy is considered excommunicated.

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, Tolstoy's agricultural communes were destroyed, and Tolstoy's followers were repressed. Some of the farms were able to survive, but they did not last long: with the advent of the war, they also disappeared.

Our days

But Tolstoyanism has not completely disappeared. Those ideas and views, for which Tolstoy was excommunicated, have not sunk into oblivion and continue to exist in our time. And today there are people who share the views of the great Russian writer on faith, not only in Russia, but also abroad. There are followers of "Tolstoyism" in Western Europe and Eastern Europe (for example, in Bulgaria), also in India, Japan and North America.

Of course, there are "Tolstoyans" in Russia, in the homeland of this movement. Their organization is registered as "new Tolstoy", it exists relatively recently and has about 500 people. The views of the "new Tolstoys" quite seriously diverge from the views of"tolstoy" of the original.

And yet, is it worth condemning Leo Tolstoy for his views? After all, he simply did not want to intertwine the moral with the supernatural. He believed that Jesus was conceived naturally, and God exists, but he does not live in paradise, but in the personal qualities of a person: in love and kindness, in conscience and honor, in diligence, responsibility and dignity.