Tolstoy's religion Collier 1911

Question 1

when these questions of the value of life first beset his feet,

Answer 1

that there was nothing left to stand on

Question 2

no mortal matter can satisfy the demands of

Answer 2

the immortal spirit. it has no peace until it turns to the business of infinity

Question 3

it had come to Tolstoy that all those things which hedge a man round, which separate him from other men

Answer 3

mean spiritual bloodshed

Question 4

whatsoever things bind a man to other men and to other form s of life are

Answer 4

enlargement and healing, are the upbuilding of the immortal spirit

Question 5

because of his powerful endowment of genius and fortunate circumstances, it is impossible

Answer 5

to account for his sufferings by external conditions

Question 6

with every possible reason for happiness, Tolstoi felt the

Answer 6

unreason and misery of mortal life

Question 7

he found a solution to the problem and that without any appeal to

Answer 7

the supernatural or any demand upon an unfounded faith

Question 8

he was a forerunner of the

Answer 8

new religion of the spirit

Question 9

[religion of the spirit] this is a religion which is begetting a new consciousness in us a consciousness which

Answer 9

will allow no man to feel his neighbours burden ir suffering more lightly than his own

Question 10

we have in the last half-century abolished the doctrine of eternal damnation,

Answer 10

a theory which was received by our grandmothers and grandfathers

Question 11

he found amongst the peasants a certain simple untroubled acceptance of life and its ills, (…)

Answer 11

which seemed to him a practical religion, disease and death which seemed to him a practical religion and he began by accepting their tenets

Question 12

Tolstoy came to feel that church dogma, far from coinciding with the teachings of christ

Answer 12

was designed to divert men’s minds from the very things Christ taught and lived for

Question 13

though such doctrines as withstand the simplest common sense, such as a belief in a triune God, and so fourth, meant something genuine, undoubtedly to the original formulators,

Answer 13

he rightfully discarded them as aids to conduct in the present day

Question 14

Jesus’s five commandments -in original form

Answer 14

Thou shalt not kill
thou shalt not commit adultery
thou shalt not forswear thyself
resist not him that is evil
love your enemies

Question 15

[Jesus’ commandments] the commandments are simple, and yet to practice them would be a

Answer 15

complete reversal of civilisation

Question 16

this goes to show that what christ taught was a

Answer 16

complete reversal of the natural order

Question 17

once accepting christ determined to adjust his life as far as he could

Answer 17

to his teachings

Question 18

left the Church, on the double grounds that it

Answer 18

made not attempt to practice what it preached

Question 19

Tolstoy once more took up the task of finding adequate reason for the

Answer 19

faith that was in him

Question 20

he refused to make assertions of God, His nature

Answer 20

the creation or schemes of salvation and redemption

Question 21

we each have a conscience which came to us from somewhere

Answer 21

we did not invite it ourselves

Question 22

dormant or active there is in each one of us

Answer 22

a higher nature, a spiritual divine prompting

Question 23

to the church people he was an

Answer 23

atheist and a heretic

Question 24

Jesus identified Himself utterly with this

Answer 24

higher nature

Question 25

he denounced all metaphysical dogma, all

Answer 25

belief in the miraculous and the unreasonable, as being whether true or not futile and confusing

Question 26

his consciousness of himself as part and parcel of the infinite so grew upon him that toward the end he could not conceive of consciousness as

Answer 26

ending with the body

Question 27

transferred all the powers and interests of his personality from his own service to

Answer 27

the service of god- that is, to matters of universal interest

Question 28

even in his last years he refused to admit that he really believed in what is known as a personal

Answer 28

God and reiterated that man is virtuous and happy, in so far as he unites himself to the whole

Question 29

Tolstoys door to the mysteries was simply a

Answer 29

life of self-forgetful labor in the love of and the service of humanity

Question 30

men, he reiterated live not by seeking their advantage but by

Answer 30

Kindliness and love

Question 31

Tolstoys effort to make his life conform to his theory was

Answer 31

thoroughgoing and sincere

Question 32

of his daughters, the eldest, tanya, accepted his doctrines more or less; the second Mary and the youngest Alexandra accepted them entirely

Answer 32

and all three were absolutely devoted to their father

Question 33

he insisted equally upon a life of physical labor and refused to believe that any one had a right to give his entire time to mental or spiritual matters

Answer 33

to the exclusion of manual industry

Question 34

[Jesus] but if the story of martha and Mary is reliable we have His own word that

Answer 34

the meditative life is higher than the busy care for things

Question 35

Tolstoy has completely understood that true living is

Answer 35

compatible only with the acknowledgement of oneness with all life