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What if the teaching you pass over is the very thing that could change how you live?
In My Religion, Leo Tolstoy returns to the Gospels after a spiritual crisis. He asks what Jesus teaches and why, in his view, so few Christians follow it. His close reading of the Sermon on the Mount centers on the command not to resist evil—a teaching he says he once dismissed as advice meant only for saints.
From that starting point, Tolstoy gathers five commandments into a demanding vision of ordinary life. He challenges church and state, questions anger, and argues for obedience to reason and love. This is a personal moral argument, not a neutral survey of theology. At stake is his search for a meaning in life that fear of death cannot take away.
What you’ll discover
- A crisis of faith Follow Tolstoy’s account of the spiritual crisis that sends him back to the Gospels.
- The challenge of non-resistance Explore why Tolstoy makes one difficult teaching the center of his reading.
- Five commands for living Consider the practical demands he finds in the Sermon, beginning with a rejection of anger.
- Church and state questioned Meet his sharp criticism of institutions he sees as opposing the teaching they claim.
- Meaning beyond fear Examine his belief that reason and love offer a way to face death.
Who will love it
For readers who like a writer thinking aloud about faith, conscience and how to live, and anyone curious about the Sermon on the Mount, peace and nonviolence.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Faith changes what good means
- One command brings everything together
- Courts return evil for evil
- Five commandments make peace practical
- Conduct cannot wait for rescue
- Life is borrowed rather than owned
- The usual path has costs
- Refusing harm begins with one person
- Understanding must become a way of living
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My Religion
by Leo Tolstoy · 1884
A Russian novelist reads four words in the Sermon on the Mount and his whole life changes direction.
Challenging2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“I have spoken first of the ethical works of Tolstoy, because they are of the first importance to me, but I think that his aesthetical works are as perfect.”
In short
Imagine reaching middle age as a man who believes in nothing, then reading a few familiar words and finding that your whole life must change. That is the story Leo Tolstoy tells in My Religion, dated Moscow, January 1884.
My Religion at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 25 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 63,200 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1884by Leo Tolstoy
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
One short command unlocks the Gospel
Tolstoy begins with a confession. As a child he cherished teachings of love, modesty and answering wrong with kindness. The Church he joined stressed dogma, sacraments and fasting, and it even approved of persecution, executions and wars. What he was given did not match the truth he loved.
So he read the Sermon on the Mount again and again. The lines about the other cheek and the cloak stirred him, yet they seemed to demand a total renunciation that would stifle life. The theologians told him people are weak and need grace.
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Details
- First published
- 1884
- Language
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- Level
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Cite this edition
Tolstoy, Leo. My Religion. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-religion.
Tolstoy, L. (2026). My religion. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-religion (Original work published 1884)
Tolstoy, Leo. My Religion. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-religion.
@book{tolstoy2026my,
author = {Tolstoy, Leo},
title = {My Religion},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/my-religion},
note = {First published 1884}
}
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What is My Religion by Tolstoy about?
It describes how Tolstoy, after years of unbelief, found a new meaning in the Sermon on the Mount. He argues that Jesus gave five clear commandments for peace, centered on not resisting evil, and that churches and states have buried them.
What does non-resistance to evil mean in this book?
Tolstoy reads Jesus' words as a rule never to answer violence with violence. A follower endures wrong, does good to those who harm him, and takes no part in courts, oaths or war. The aim is to end evil, not to suffer.
What are the five commandments Tolstoy finds in Matthew?
He lists them as live at peace and never call anyone worthless, stay faithful to one spouse, swear no oaths, do not resist evil by force, and treat foreigners as you treat your own people. Each follows an old law Jesus quotes.
The author
Leo Tolstoy
1828–1910 · Russian novelist and moral philosopher
Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author born in 1828 at Yasnaya Polyana, where he lived for much of his life. He wrote novels, stories, and essays. War and Peace appeared in 1865–1869 and Anna Karenina in 1875–1877. He died in 1910 at Astapovo, Russia.
“As fire cannot put out fire, evil cannot suppress evil.”
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