[Tolstoy, Leo. (1828–1910)]
Decree of Excommunication of Leo Tolstoy
РЕДЕЛЕНИЕ СВЯТЕЙШЕГО СИНОДА. от 20-22-го февраля 1901 года, №557, с посланием верным чадам Православной Грекороссийской Церкви о графе Льве Толстом. ["DEFINITION OF THE HOLY SYNOD. from 20-22 February 1901 year, no. 557, with the message of the faithful children of the Orthodox Church of Grekorossijskoj graph Leo Tolstoy"]Original 1901 printed document announcing the important novelist's excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church. The church accuses Tolstoy of "disseminating among the people teachings repugnant to Christ and the Church, and to destroying in the minds and hearts of men their national faith, the Orthodox faith, which has been confirmed by the universe, and in which our forefathers lived and were saved, and to which till now Holy Russia has held and in which it has been strong." Published as a supplement to the church journal "Tserkovnija Vedomosti" no. 8, 1901. 1 sheet, 2 pp. Folding creases, some small splits, notation in an unknown hand at upper edge, and a tape reinforcement on the verso; overall in good condition. 8 x 11.5 inches (21.3 x 29.3 cm). Rare. Worldcat records no copies of this original publication.
Tolstoy had undertaken an extensive exploration of theology, reading broadly in the Christian, but also Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic and Judaic texts, and learning Greek and Hebrew to study the patristic texts of the Christian tradition. Based on this research, in the 1880s he produced a series of works challenging inherited views on religion. In particular, he authored his own versions of the Gospels, in which he eliminated the miracles and focused on the moral principles of Christ’s teaching, as well as Critique of Dogmatic Theology, a long work taking apart many of the practices of the Orthodox Church. These works, together with a number of others, presented a serious challenge to the moral authority of the Orthodox Church, which responded in kind, Orthodox clergy producung a huge corpus of anti-Tolstoy sermons and critiques of his philosophy. The Church considered excommunicating Tolstoy for a number of years, and at some points even discussed the possibility of having him arrested and confined. In early 1901 it issued an edict that was broadly understood as an excommunication, though in fact it did not exactly go that far.
The excommunication, as it was perceived by the public, did not achieve the objective desired by the Church. They had hoped that it would strike fear into the impressionable minds of Tolstoy’s potential followers, but it instead excited public interest in his views to a new pitch. The unveiling of a new painting in a Petersburg museum produced an ovation and continued crowds of admirers. Tolstoy was treated as a hero everywhere he went, and the Church understood that it would do much better with Tolstoy as an ally instead of an enemy. When the writer nearly died in 1902 they sent a priest to wait nearby with instructions to report to the media that he had taken a final communion and died at peace with the Church. The family learned of the plot and forestalled it, as did Tolstoy: he lived for another eight years. During the last years of his life he made it clear that he had no interest in returning to the church, an organization which was, in his view, illegitimate. (13233)
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