Why Christianity is Not Understood
Most of my favorite novels are Russian. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Solzhenitsyn are among the best. Their spiritual depth and cast of characters, as well as the intricacies of their plot structures and profound insight into human nature, are masterfully timeless.
They are also saturated with gospel content and values that strikes many modern readers as anachronistic. So yesterday when I ran across this quote on another site I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the site did not give proper citation of where it can be found in the Tolstoy corpus.
If you know, let me know.
“There are many reasons why Christ’s teaching is not understood…But the principle reason, which is the source of all the other mistaken ideas about it, is the notion that Christianity is a doctrine which can be accepted or rejected without any change of life.”
–Leo Tolstoy
Fascinating. The problem Tolstoy put his finger on for his country is precisely the problem in our day. God deliver us from a Christianity that is powerless to change lives from the inside out and from “Christians” who don’t understand their own religion.
Each of them prophets in their day and we would do well to not despise their words. 1 Thessalonians 5:20.
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