Tolstoy as a Social and Religious Reformer

Kovalenko Natalia ORCID: 0000-0002-5397-316X PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Culture of Speech, St. Petersburg State Agrarian University 196601, Russia, St. Petersburg, Pushkin, St. Petersburg Highway, 2A, office 2403 nataly6707@mail.ru Other publications by this author

 Introduction

Tolstoy's philosophy was based on a religious type of culture.

This determined his desire for religious reformation. The socio-religious ideas of the Russian writer were most fully embodied in his journalistic work, which became a significant phenomenon in the domestic culture of the Silver Age. His works of the 80-90s of the XIX century should be highlighted in particular as: The Four Gospels: The Connection and translation of the Four Gospels, 1880 – 1881; Confession, 1882; What is my faith? (1883 – 1888); A study of Dogmatic Theology, 1884; The Kingdom of God within You – a treatise, 1890 – 1893; A Summary of the Gospel, 1906; The Way of Life, 1910.

MethodologyThe purpose of this historical and cultural work is to reconstruct the views of Leo Tolstoy in the socio-religious sphere of Russian spiritual culture.

In Tolstoy's literary and journalistic work, the leading concept was the philosophy of nonviolence, which led to the formation of the movement of Russian and foreign Tolstoians. Methodologically, the article uses a historical and cultural approach and methodological guidelines of religious studies.

The main part.Tolstoy's religious type in Russian literature has been interpreted from various positions: firstly, as a rejection of the pagan heritage of the ancestors with the subsequent adoption of the Christian religion - this position was adhered to by B.B. Rozanov.

Reading and comprehensively analyzing Tolstoy's works, he wrote that he saw in them a hidden desire to teach others, which, from his point of view, as a personal quality was immanently inherent in the great writer, if you approach their consideration comprehensively, and not study individual aspects. According to Rozanov, in Tolstoy's early and late works, it is possible to trace in unprecedented detail the vividly and deeply reflected history of pagan beliefs and their relationship with the Christian faith, as well as, on the contrary, the history of the Christian religion and its relationship with pre–Christian beliefs, and see how they meet each other, collide and fight within one person. Horse racing in Tsarskoye Selo, described in detail in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Vronsky's meeting with Anna in the ballroom and the dizziness he experienced from her, the initial stage of their love relationship; all aspects of Nikolai Rostov's existence in the regiment, reflected in another work – "War and Peace", as well as, in general, pictorial descriptions in both epic novels, according to the philosopher, picturesquely reflect idolatrous ideas about life and its meaning. "For the essence of paganism, of course, is not in gods and names, but in the spirit, in life, in its warehouse and flow" [1. p. 230]. Here Rozanov himself, as a philosopher of the Silver Age, according to the definition of N.O. Lossky, also acts as a "seeker of God" [2. p. 435].

Secondly, as a departure from the Christian religion and faith, followed by a transition to the pagan beliefs of the ancestors that existed in the past. In particular, I.M. Kontsevich was convinced that the great writer played an important role in the worldwide transition to pagan beliefs, since he did a lot in this direction through the destruction of the Christian faith [3. p. 4]. Indeed, in Tolstoy's works there is a sharp criticism of contemporary church life and activity, but this does not mean a departure from Christianity as a religion at all. The Church as a state institution was condemned by the Russian writer, which is why he so zealously advocated the return of early Christianity (original or non-church Christianity). According to the definition of historian Irina Sventsitskaya, this is communal or ecclesiastical Christianity ^[4.].

Thirdly, the saturation of Tolstoy's worldview with Orthodox ideas. V.V. Zenkovsky in his work "The History of Russian Philosophy" writes that the writer's worldview is fundamentally, fundamentally connected with the Orthodox faith, and also provides evidence in favor of the existence of the aforementioned interconnectedness in the form of a repeated transition "to religious culture, which has to give a synthesis of the historical element and eternal truth, to reveal the Kingdom of God in earthly life" [5. p. 385]. From Zenkovsky's point of view, although the writer had negative feelings about the Church as an institution, its realities and complex history, "but he was only looking for the Church, he was looking for the "revealed" Kingdom of God, God-human unity, both eternal and temporary" [5. p. 385 ibid.].

Fourthly, in relation to the creators belonging to the period of the Silver Age, and from their point of view, Tolstoy's religious variety of culture can be characterized as ascetic. In particular, C.H. Bulgakov was convinced that the entire work of the writer is the bearer of a number of distinctive features, the list of which should include comprehensive criticism and thorough verification of values in two ways familiar to that: abandoning the general cultural values rooted in human society and systematically, at different levels, criticizing the way of life peculiar to the bourgeoisie and the civilization system generated by it. Tolstoy himself was very much dissatisfied with the generally accepted values shared by his contemporaries. His contemporary society adhered to a number of socio-cultural values that received comprehensive criticism and careful consideration, detailed analysis by the writer. These include: the state and its key institutions, since they are based on the principle of forcible coercion; the official church, which has long ceased to observe the Gospel and Christian commandments; as well as a utilitarian, pragmatic approach to morality and morality rooted in society.

At the same time, C.H. Bulgakov believed that Tolstoy's religious culture is self-valuable and significant for the reason that it reflects asceticism as a key feature of the Christian faith, the orientation of which is immanently inherent in it. According to Bulgakov, the preaching of unpopular abstinence characteristic of Tolstoyism brought focus to the fact that the modern Russian writer's society and civilization were struck by such ulcers as a tendency to a utilitarian-materialistic approach to life and people around him, as well as orientation to the principles of Eudaemonism. In the above-mentioned aspect, Tolstoyism acquires the maximum similarity with the Christian faith, but the nuance is that the writer's ideological attitudes tend to claim authenticity, complete freedom from those layers with which this belief has been covered in its ancient history. Despite this, it is the emphasis on self-restraint and abstinence, according to the author, that is the watershed separating real Christianity from Tolstoyism [6. p. 282]. As a religious thinker, Bulgakov "repeatedly claimed that the turn to religion that happened to him at the turn of the century did not lead him, like Berdyaev, to a "conflict" with the world, but, on the contrary, forced him to understand this world more deeply" [7. pp. 220-221]. In this understanding, the key point was the concept of "Sofia". Bulgakov wrote that Sofia, in relation to the multiplicity of the universe, can be characterized as a single bundle of ideas that plays the role of a receptacle for ideological and ideological germs of absolutely everything [8. p. 201]. And in the work of V.S. Solovyov, "Sofia" is nothing but humanity itself, reunited by a single impulse to love and humanity.

Fifth, Tolstoy's religious type is characterized as a religious-philosophical synthesis. In particular, E.D. Meleshko believes that the philosophical-religious synthesis practiced by the writer in his work is just a search for a certain "golden mean", the justification of a kind of "rational irrationalism" or "reasonable faith" is quite in the spirit of the Russian tradition of integral spiritual knowledge" [9. p.6]. This idea of the synthesis of religion and philosophy was accepted by representatives of Eurasianism. In fact, in this case it was about the formation of a new kind of Orthodox theology or theology. G. Florovsky wrote that this can be described as a situation in which nihilism comprehensively affects the theological tradition [10. pp. 510-511].

Tolstoy's theology, with its reliance on criticism of both state institutions and the state Orthodox Church, has found its recognition among Tolstoy's followers. In this case, we are talking about one of the Russian sects. Adherents of Tolstoyism demonstrated fundamental disagreement with the church dogma accepted in Christianity, as well as mass worship services. In addition, they were disgusted by the hierarchical structure of intra-church life, however, nevertheless, they treated with extreme reverence the morality and moral foundations on which the Christian faith had been based for centuries. Also, adherents of Tolstoyism were characterized by a comprehensive criticism of the Orthodoxy that existed at that time in two aspects – ecclesiastical and religious, since they believed that the church hierarchs somehow supported violent measures taken by the state and encouraged the existing social stratification. Adherents of Tolstoyism shared all the fundamental ideas of the founder of this movement, including forgiveness, non-resistance to evil by violence, unwillingness to enmity with other ethnic groups and nationalities in strict accordance with the Christian commandment "love your enemies." All of the above ideas were voiced by Christ in his Sermon on the Mount and are briefly reduced to the basic principles, among which are "love for one's neighbor", morality, striving for personal self-improvement, avoiding unnecessary complication of life through self-restraint and abstinence, that is, asceticism. Within the framework of the Christian faith, by default, it is assumed that spirituality is superior to materialism, and spirit is stronger than matter.

Adherents of the Tolstoy movement intensively popularized the ideological attitudes of the teacher, conducted educational work among ordinary people, and also established a book publishing house specifically for this purpose, giving it the name "Intermediary". In it, the works of Lev Nikolaevich himself and other narodnik authors, in particular, G.I. Uspensky and A.P. Chekhov, which should be understandable to an ordinary peasant, were subjected to a lot of book publishing. The well-established book printing process also extended to educational literature devoted to agronomic, veterinary and sanitary-hygienic issues. In the period from 1901 to 1905, the Tolstoy movement also published a newspaper called "Free Speech" in the London publishing house. After the revolution and the formation of the CCCP in the period from the 1920s to the 1930s, the previously existing communes of farmers - adherents of Tolstoyism (among others, the well-known commune called "Life and Labor" can be attributed to this list) were mostly liquidated, and after the forced dissolution, the people who were in them were often forced to to go through repression. To date, the Tolstoy movement has not died, people still live who share its main ideas – in Western European countries, on the North American continent, as well as in Japan, India and a number of other states.

Tolstoyism as a movement of followers of Tolstoy's teachings was directly related to social criticism. Immoral, immoral antics of the official representatives of the church – its officials and confessors, not only within Orthodoxy, but also within Catholicism, were subjected to multilateral criticism. In particular, Tolstoy believed that it was not adherence to certain false truths, namely non-compliance by spiritual dignitaries with simple rules stipulated within the framework of religion, announced at the state level under Emperor Constantine, as well as refusal to work and physically work, laziness, an idle lifestyle, depravity and the desire for luxury, enrichment that caused the fall of the authority of the official the church in the eyes of ordinary people and its isolation on itself [11. pp. 166-399]. Criticizing the church of that time as a public institution, the writer emphasized that in the postulates accepted and practiced by it there are no significant requirements regarding ethics, morality and behavior of parishioners. The writer was outraged by the fact that parishioners who adhere to the Christian religion can do whatever they want, without any self-restrictions and obligations, the only exception was the obligation to periodically fast and pray daily, and even then, the church hierarchs forgave its non-compliance. Moreover, a similar state of affairs, to Tolstoy's indignation, developed back in the era of Emperor Constantine – since then Christians have not borne any duties within this religious institution and should not have abstained, because their acceptance by their own church was unconditional [12. p. 439].

Tolstoy clearly demonstrates and specifically highlights the fact that the real purpose of the official church and the form of Christianity it preaches in practice is the desire to preserve, explain and justify the established social and political systems, and not try to change and reform them. The writer writes about this as a concession made once to the worldly, and after that the churchmen were already forced to follow him in everything, indulging him. Thus, the common people were left without a creative guiding force on the part of church institutions, which were forced to take a secondary, approving position with regard to popular self-will. Worldly life has always been characterized by a lack of spirituality, reliance on ethics and the pillars of the true, primordial Christian faith and religion, and in many ways was opposed to them, was in conflict with them, while the church hierarchs sought to find allegorical interpretations and justifications for such a state of affairs that anti-Christian, anti-religious and immoral human behavior did not look like that [12. p. 439].

As a natural result, not only official recognition followed from the church, but also the consecration of ideas, concepts and traditions drawn by society from paganism. The list of such phenomena peculiar to pagans should include the dissolution of marriage with spouses, the conversion of their own kind into slaves, the willingness and desire to sue, execute a neighbor and fight with neighboring nations in opposition to Christian commandments, as well as the approval of existing rulers and those in power. In addition, the churchmen, when conducting the baptism rite for converts to Christianity, demanded that the converts renounce evil deeds and thoughts only in words, and even then, such a state of affairs persisted for a very short time, in the first centuries of the spread of this religion, and later, when newborns were baptized, they abandoned the above-mentioned tradition. Thus, from the writer's point of view, official church institutions have completely lost their original spiritual leadership role at the social level, and instead have taken the position of a folk interpreter interpreting Christian metaphysics in a new way in order to conceptually preserve the established way of life. Tolstoy laments that his contemporaries live inside communities contrary to official church-religious dogmas, not relying on them and not taking them into account in their daily life, and this applies not only to Orthodoxy, but also to other religions [12. p. 440].

The writer had similar claims to the authorities: in his opinion, governments as an institution of coercion are based on traditions, scientifically based theories, can be elected by the people or be tyrannical, based on soldiers' bayonets and the cruelty of the strong, but none of them are based on church principles, spirituality and religious commandments [12. p. 441]. A similar situation, from his point of view, has developed in the military-state sphere, at the interstate level, where relations between different countries are based on such considerations as popular approval, balance of interests and others, and the opinion of the church is not taken into account. Tolstoy considered particularly noticeable the pronounced disregard of church institutions on the part of government and state institutions, therefore Christian commandments do not form the foundation of the judicial system or legislation on property issues, moreover, his contemporaries could only be amused by such an idea. In addition, he was outraged by the involuntary hostility on the part of the academic community and developing scientific disciplines towards religion and religious institutions, although this contradiction, disharmony and confrontation, despite the ongoing scientific progress, were not inevitable. A similar situation, as he believed, had developed in the field of art, which had once been in the service of church institutions for centuries, but in his time Christianity left, completely distancing itself from it [12. p. 441]. The writer considered the current situation not accidental, and called the main root cause of it the use of Christianity as a tool to justify, preserve and strengthen the existing socio-political regime beneficial to the state and those in power. This automatically implied the preservation of all social ulcers, so official Christianity in human society in practice began to be used as a tool of coercion.

The writer criticized official Christianity and the religion promoted by church institutions in a number of books, including such well-known works as "What is my faith?", "Christian Teaching", "Criticism of Dogmatic Theology". The criticisms he used can be characterized as criticism of: excessive, unjustified rationality in the presentation of the concept and essence of Christian dogmas; the inextricable interconnectedness of dogmas with real church practice. Also, the writer's remarks were characterized by anti-etatist sentiments combined with anarchist beliefs and a strong antipathy he felt towards official church institutions approved by the state, since such warm relations with the government and those in power made them unworthy of trust in the eyes of the thinker. According to Tolstoy, the church hierarchs deceived ordinary people, not giving them an answer to the most burning questions about the soul and the meaning of their own life, but instead pelted them with ridiculous information, moreover, they did not allow others to search for answers and delve deeply into this problem [13. p. 296]. Open criticism of the church structure led to the writer's excommunication from the Orthodox Church.

The key distinguishing features of Tolstoyism are non-resistance to evil by violence and comprehensive criticism of official church institutions, due to the beliefs of the founder of this trend. Within the framework of Tolstoyism, the primary role is assigned to love as a key value for people. From this point of view, according to E.D. Meleshko, "understanding the essence of the law means just the metaphysical aspect and component of love, and "guidance in actions" characterizes its ethical aspect" [14. p. 31]. Thus, the basic, immanently inherent meaning of love consists in practical, active training in how to overcome evil, which can include various objective obstacles that all people come across throughout their lives, as well as superstition and a tendency to yield without resisting various temptations. But this concerns the personal, individual level; at the level of the state and society, the writer suggests non-doing as the main effective method of combating evil, that is, exclusively passive methods of confrontation and inactive resistance to destructive social pressure are implied here.

Conclusions

As a conclusion, we point out that the key postulate of Tolstoyism was the assertion of the unconditional importance and universality of the principle of non-resistance to evil, on which Christianity as such is actually based. Also, without observing this rule, love becomes impossible, whose integral components and companions are two properties – self-denial and willingness to sacrifice oneself heroically. Thus, love is the metaphysical foundation of life, symbolizing its beginning; it is through it that the divinity and the plan of God are manifested in people, whereas with the help of religion people reflect their own attitude to the infinitely lasting existence of an immortal soul. Religion also links together the earthly, worldly life with this eternity, infinity, and is a guide when choosing a line of behavior and various actions, thereby playing the role of a moral limiter. Metaphysics is reflected in the principle of love, and ethics – in non-resistance to evil, while both of these components are integral elements of Tolstoyism.