Heretical Orthodoxy : Lev Tolstoi and the Russian Orthodox Church

Lev Tolstoi, one of the world's most famous writers, was also a religious thinker and influential critic of the Orthodox Church. This book offers a new account of his relationship with the Church, showing how most of his main ideas drew on his Christian heritage – a radical reinterpretation of the faith he encountered in his own life.

Lev Tolstoi was not only one of the world's most famous writers, he was also a deeply concerned thinker and hugely influential critic of the Church whose impact was felt long after his death. For an entire generation, Tolstoi set the agenda for ethical and religious thought, in Russia and beyond. Most of Tolstoi's main ideas drew on his Christian heritage – selected and creatively combined. While he claimed that his life's work consisted of rediscovering the pure doctrine of Christ as it had been before the Church perverted it, in fact he radically reinterpreted the Christian faith he had encountered in his own life, Russian Orthodoxy. This book offers a new and comprehensive account of Tolstoi's relationship with the Orthodox Church and its teachings, and shows how the Russian Church reacted to the “Tolstoi phenomenon” and attempted to counteract the influence of this new “heretic" - with scant success.