A Brief Exposition of the Gospels

Revealing the full depth of the Gospel text, Tolstoy mercilessly discards the verbal “straw” that has been grafted onto it—words that contain no religious thought and that obscure the living fabric of moral truths, preventing the mind from understanding them and heeding them. The names of the four evangelists known to us—among the many people who lived close in time to the life of Christ—have come down to us because, at some point, according to their own understanding, they set down what they knew about Him. Later, other people, according to their own understanding, retold the birth, life, and deeds of Christ, and this resulted in the “Constantinian” Gospel, recognized as canonical—more simply, the Church Gospel. As an evangelist, in modern times, Tolstoy made people aware of the “good news” proclaimed by Christ, according to Tolstoy’s understanding. And precisely this—his deepest understanding of Christ’s life and teaching—allows one to say that Tolstoy’s Gospel is the best—first of all. Lyev’s Gospel is direct guidance on the Path, so clearly. By freeing the powerful drawing of the life that Christ brought into the world, it lets its force be seen.