The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Nikoleyevich Tolstoy
page 109 of 449 (24%)
page 109 of 449 (24%)
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Misconception, that the Teaching Cannot be put into Practice,
Due to the Christian Religion Directing Life in a Way Different from that of the Social Theory of Life--Christianity holds up Ideal, does not lay down Rules--To the Animal Force of Man Christ Adds the Consciousness of a Divine Force--Christianity Seems to Destroy Possibility of Life only when the Ideal held up is Mistaken for Rule--Ideal Must Not be Lowered--Life, According to Christ's Teaching, is Movement--The Ideal and the Precepts--Second Misconception Shown in Replacing Love and Service of God by Love and Service of Humanity--Men of Science Imagine their Doctrine of Service of Humanity and Christianity are Identical--Doctrine of Service of Humanity Based on Social Conception of Life--Love for Humanity, Logically Deduced from Love of Self, has No Meaning because Humanity is a Fiction-- Christian Love Deduced from Love of God, Finds its Object in the whole World, not in Humanity Alone--Christianity Teaches Man to Live in Accordance with his Divine Nature--It Shows that the Essence of the Soul of Man is Love, and that his Happiness Ensues from Love of God, whom he Recognizes as Love within himself. Now I will speak of the other view of Christianity which hinders the true understanding of it--the scientific view. Churchmen substitute for Christianity the version they have framed of it for themselves, and this view of Christianity they regard as the one infallibly true one. Men of science regard as Christianity only the tenets held by the |
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