The Kingdom of God is Within You

First published in 1894 in Germany after being banned in Leo Tolstoy’s native Russia, “The Kingdom of God is Within You” is, in the words of the introduction, “one of the most remarkable studies of the social and psychological condition of the modern world”. Thirty years in the making, Tolstoy expounds upon his earlier work “What I Believe” and argues that nonviolence is the very foundation of Christianity. Tolstoy believed that the teaching of Christ to turn the other cheek was Christ’s most important message and that Christianity was a religion of peace and love and prohibited all violence, including self-defense. To support his argument, Tolstoy traced the history of non-violent resistance by a small minority throughout the history of the religion. He drew a sharp contrast between the teachings of Christ, such as at the “Sermon on the Mount”, and modern church doctrine, in which he found the absence of any commandment against violence a perversion of Christ’s message. Tolstoy also criticized all governments that waged war as violating Christian principles. This masterpiece of Christian thought would become the foundation of the philosophy of non-violent resistance and was profoundly influential to such important world figures as Mahatma Gandhi. This edition includes a biographical afterword.