A Confession and Other Religious Writings

“A Confession and Other Religious Writings” by Leo Tolstoy is a book that I’ve carried around with me for a while. I would pick it up, read bits of it intensely, and then forget about it. Then I would have to go back and restart the book. I finally resolved to sit down with a pencil in hand it get through it. I am very glad that I did. Most people know Tolstoy as the author of “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” two of the best books in the Western literary canon. But there was another side to Tolstoy—a Christian mystic and religious thinker—a side I think will have a much more lasting influence in the long run.

This collection, excellently translated by Jane Kentish, collects four of his most important religious pieces: “A Confession” (1879), “Religion and Morality” (1893), “What Is Religion and What Does its Essence Consist Of?” (1902), and “The Law of Love and the Law of Violence” (1908). Taken together, we see the insights of a profoundly sensitive writer who saw the inequality, violence, and poverty around him and called upon humanity to realize their true spiritual nature and practice love and non-violence. His conceptions of non-violence had a deep impact on Gandhi and his concept of satyagraha. His critiques of society, capitalism, and institutionalized religion had some influence of are trenchant and worth contemplating.

Tolstoy was a popular writer, but he was profoundly unsettled with questions about the meaning of life. He had achieved more than most people but was still profoundly unhappy. He documents his slow, tortured journey to realization in “A Confession.” I won’t go into too many specifics, but I will note a few points that stood out to me. First, the idea that all states and societies are predicated on the idea of violence and the only way to meet violence is with non-cooperation with violence. Second, his conception of religion is central to his conception of humanity. He believes all human beings have a religious impulse. Third, Tolstoy places great emphasis on reason and wants a religion that accords with his reason. Fourth, when you understand Tolstoy’s life, you realize that he tried to practice what he wrote—renouncing his noble titles, working as a peasant on a farm, and trying to live out the commands of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Out of the four pieces, I found that I liked “The Law of Love and the Law of Violence” the best because it seems to capture the essence of his writings the most and gives the reader the clearest call to action.
His religious writings are challenging, and they do not fall neatly into any ideological mold. In that way, he reminds me of Rabindranath Tagore and Simon Weil. His clarity of thought, willingness to stake out difficult positions, and his ability to raise complex questions is very refreshing