Though he is best known for novel War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy penned a significant treatise called The Kingdom of God is Within You, which was considered so controversial in his native Russia that the author had to publish it in 1894 in Germany. What was contained within to cause such a furor? Tolstoy makes the argument that any violence - even that sanctioned by the state, like war or execution - is at odds with the true Christian virtue of peace. Tolstoy's writing on the topic was so widely influential that it can be witnessed in the nonviolent protest movement headed by Gandhi - a personal correspondent of Tolstoy's.
Though he is best known for novel War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy penned a significant treatise called The Kingdom of God is Within You, which was considered so controversial in his native Russia that the author had to publish it in 1894 in Germany. What was contained within to cause such a furor? Tolstoy makes the argument that any violence - even that sanctioned by the state, like war or execution - is at odds with the true Christian virtue of peace. Tolstoy's writing on the topic was so widely influential that it can be witnessed in the nonviolent protest movement headed by Gandhi - a personal correspondent of Tolstoy's.
