Tolstoy’s Call for Inner Renewal
If Leo Tolstoy were evaluating the role of Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev today and modern religious trends, he would most likely have sharply criticized the institutionalized way of life in the church and its close ties with state power. Tolstoy argued that true spiritual rebirth must occur within each person—through the fulfillment of the Father's will rather than through the intermediary of hierarchical church structures. He believed it was immoral for the Father's will to be transmitted solely through an intermediary in the person of the Son, as this, in his view, distracts a person from the personal responsibility to fulfill the commandments.Thus, he wrote: " Tolstoy considers it immoral when the Father's will is recognized as possible to be carried out only through the Son, the Redeemer and Savior; he is repulsed by the idea of redemption and salvation—in other words, he is repulsed not by Jesus of Nazareth, but by Christ-Logos, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. Tolstoy's religion seeks only to know the Father and does not wish to know the Son; the Son hinders him from fulfilling the Father's law on his own..." (source: link txt).Furthermore, Tolstoy was also critically inclined toward the way state structures merge with religious life, associating themselves with false public opinion and conformity, which, in his view, distorts the original meaning of true Christianity. He rejected any attempts to merge religion with state power, believing that such fusion leads to the institutional degradation of genuine spirituality.It is not surprising that if he turned his attention to contemporary religious policy, he would likely have remarked that an emphasis on dogmas, external church rituals, and the mysteries of salvation creates an illusion of spirituality, robbing the individual of the opportunity for independent moral development. Tolstoy advocated that spiritual renewal should occur through personal diligence and a direct commitment to fulfilling the laws inherent in the divine nature of humanity, rather than through the mediation of official church institutions.Thus, regarding the Patriarch and modern religious choices, he might have offered the following observations: • A criticism of any formulation of faith as a dogmatized system, where salvation is reduced to ritualistic mediation instead of encouraging personal moral growth; • Dissatisfaction with the merging of state power and church hierarchy, which, in his view, undermines the true spiritual essence of Christianity and sacrifices individual freedom; • A rejection of the idea that through the mediation of sacraments or rites, sincere fulfillment of the Father's will can be substituted, leading to the loss of the true meaning of faith.Supporting citation(s): " Tolstoy considers it immoral when the Father's will is recognized as possible to be carried out only through the Son, the Redeemer and Savior; he is repulsed by the idea of redemption and salvation—in other words, he is repulsed not by Jesus of Nazareth, but by Christ-Logos, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. Tolstoy's religion seeks only to know the Father and does not wish to know the Son; the Son prevents him from fulfilling the Father's law on his own..." (source: link txt)"Having rejected the state, the false public, he rejects, or rather does not see at all, the true Church..." (source: link txt)These reflections clearly demonstrate that Tolstoy always insisted on the necessity of inner self-improvement and personal responsibility, a stance he would likely have applied in his critique of modern religious policy as embodied by Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev.