Demands of World vs Christ

By Leo Tolstoy

Edited and Reprinted from
What I Believe
Translated by Aylmer Maude

What I Believe was first circulated in Russia in 1884 and first printed in Geneva in 1888. Mr. Aylmer Maude's translation was first published in 1921. Footnote references are designated by the following initials: A.M. - Aylmer Maude, the translator; and P.R. - Paul Revere, Pastor.

Published in the Kingdom of Heaven
Year of Our Lord, 1991
20 pages

Introduction

The following article is excerpted from What I Believe, by Leo Tolstoy. In his book, Tolstoy concludes that it is absurd to believe we are masters of our lives. When we live only for our own joy, we feel unhappy, just as laborers do when they do not fulfill their Master's orders. And when we live only for our own enjoyment, death ruins all we work for. To live rationally, we must live so that death cannot destroy life. To participate in the true life, we must forgo our own will and do the will of the Father of life. For life to be a blessing, says Tolstoy, we must identify ourselves with the Son of Man in the task of establishing the kingdom of God on earth - here and now.

Paul Revere, Pastor

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