Video: The unrepentant sinner: why Leo Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In 1901, an event happened that gave rise to many conjectures and had a significant resonance in society - writer Leo Tolstoy excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church … For more than a century, there have been disputes about the causes and extent of this conflict. Leo Tolstoy became the only writer excommunicated from the Church. But the fact is that in none of the churches was anathema declared to him.
"Anathema" consists in the deprivation of church communion, heretics and unrepentant sinners were betrayed anathema. In this case, excommunication from the church is subject to cancellation in case of repentance of the excommunicated. However, in the act of excommunication of Leo Tolstoy, the term "anathema" was not used. The wording was much more delicate.
The newspapers published the Epistle of the Holy Synod, which said: “The world-famous writer, Russian by birth, Orthodox by baptism and upbringing, Count Tolstoy, in seducing his proud mind, boldly rebelled against the Lord and against His Christ and His holy property, clearly before everyone he renounced his mother, the Orthodox Church, who nurtured and raised him, and devoted his literary activity and the talent given to him from God to spread among the people teachings that are contrary to Christ and the Church, and to destroy in the minds and hearts of people of the fatherly faith, the Orthodox faith. In fact, it was a statement of the writer's own renunciation of the church.
Leo Tolstoy really for a long time preached ideas that were fundamentally at odds with Orthodox teaching. He rejected faith in the Holy Trinity, considered the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary impossible, questioned the divine nature of Christ, called the Resurrection of Christ a myth - in general, the writer tried to find rational explanations for the basic religious postulates. His ideas had such an influence among the people that they even got their name - "Tolstoyism".
In response to the determination of the Holy Synod, Leo Tolstoy published his message, in which he wrote: “The fact that I have renounced the Church, which calls itself Orthodox, is absolutely fair. … And I became convinced that the teaching of the Church is theoretically an insidious and harmful lie, but in practice it is a collection of the most crude superstitions and witchcraft, which completely conceals the whole meaning of Christian teaching. … The fact that I reject the incomprehensible Trinity and the fable about the fall of the first man, the story of God, born of the Virgin, redeeming the human race, is absolutely true."
Tolstoy was not the only writer who openly opposed the Church. Chernyshevsky, Pisarev, Herzen also spoke critically, however, they saw more danger in Tolstoy's sermons - he had many followers among those who were among convinced Christians. Moreover, he considered himself a true Christian and tried to expose the "false" teaching.
The reaction of society to the excommunication of Tolstoy was ambiguous: some were indignant at the Synod, some were publishing notes in the newspapers that the writer had assumed a "satanic appearance." This event was followed by statements to the Synod with a request for excommunication from various persons. Tolstoy received both sympathetic letters and letters with calls to come to his senses and repent.
Tolstoy's son, Lev Lvovich, spoke about the consequences of this event: “In France it is often said that Tolstoy was the first and main cause of the Russian revolution, and there is a lot of truth in this. No one has done more destructive work in any country than Tolstoy. Denial of the state and its authority, denial of the law and the Church, war, property, family. What could have happened when this poison penetrated the brains of the Russian peasant and semi-intellectual and other Russian elements. Unfortunately, the moral influence of Tolstoy was much weaker than the political and social influence."
Reconciliation between the writer and the Church never happened, nor did repentance. Therefore, to this day, he is considered excommunicated from the Orthodox Church. A 10 rules from the life manifesto of Leo Tolstoy are still relevant today
Recommended:
Why the judgment of King Solomon was considered the fairest in the world, and he himself was considered an inveterate sinner
We often hear the phrase - "Solomon's decision", which has become a catch phrase. From time immemorial, the image of King Solomon has come down to us as a character in many legends and parables. In all legends, he acts as the wisest of people and a just judge, famous for his cunning. However, there are still controversies among historians: some believe that the son of David lived in reality, others are sure that a wise ruler is a biblical falsification
Christian analogues of Old Church Slavonic holidays, or why the church could not defeat Maslenitsa and Ivan Kupala
Christianity, introduced in Russia by Prince Vladimir in 988, actually put an end to the development of the solar cult. For a long time the new religion could not oust the remnants of paganism from the consciousness of the people. Some Slavs remained faithful to Dazhdbog, Khors and Perun, others - mixed the two faiths, "merging" their gods with Christian saints, and still others worshiped brownies. Such a term as dual faith appeared, with which the clergy fought for a long time. To "erase" the ancient Slavic traditions, church and St
The True Story of the Most Famous Biblical Sinner, or Who Mary Magdalene Was in Real Life
Mary Magdalene is a key figure in the Bible, namely in the Gospels of the New Testament. The role of this woman in the development of Christianity cannot be overestimated. It also continues to be the subject of the most heated debate among theologians. Why do different branches of Christianity, as well as representatives of other religious structures (and not only) describe Mary Magdalene differently? What do professional representatives of official historical science say about this?
Why medieval monks excommunicated beer lovers
In the Middle Ages, the city of Wroclaw was the capital of Silesia - a historical region, parts of which now belong to Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. It is hard to believe that in the 14th century, the authorities of Wroclaw started a war against beer, despite its popularity among all segments of the population. At that time, the intoxicating drink was indispensable at parties, dinners, public events
An inconvenient genius: why the leadership of "Mosfilm" excommunicated actor Oleg Borisov from cinema
24 years ago, on April 28, 1994, the famous theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR Oleg Borisov, who was remembered by millions of viewers for his roles in the films "Chasing Two Hares" and "The Collapse of Engineer Garin", passed away. Many colleagues and directors called him a proud man and did not like him because of his difficult and arrogant nature, and for the same reason he often had conflicts with the leadership. Because of this, the actor had to leave the theater, and once at Mosfilm he was completely excommunicated from filming for 2 years