About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Nebraska Press

ISBN-100803294328

ISBN-139780803294325

eBay Product ID (ePID)783236

Product Key Features

Book TitleGospel in Brief

Number of Pages216 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year1997

TopicBiblical Studies / Jesus, the Gospels & Acts, Religious, General, Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / New Testament

IllustratorYes

GenreReligion, Philosophy, Bibles

AuthorLeo Tolstoy

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.5 in

Item Weight10 oz

Item Length8.2 in

Item Width7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN96-047159

Preface byFlowers, Francis A.

Dewey Edition22

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Decimal226.06

Synopsis"Are you acquainted with Tolstoy's The Gospel in Brief ? At its time, this book virtually kept me alive. . . . If you are not acquainted with it, then you cannot imagine what an effect it can have upon a person."--Ludwig Wittgenstein, in a letter to Ludwig von Ficker. The Gospel in Brief is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical Gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. Inspired in large measure by Tolstoy's meticulous study of the original Greek versions of the Bible, The Gospel in Brief is a highly original fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own influential religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a solution to "the problem of life," not an answer to theological or historical questions. As a result, he sets aside such issues as Jesus' genealogy and divinity, or whether Jesus in fact walked on water. Instead, he focuses on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what Tolstoy regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual. The result is a work that emphasizes the individual's spiritual condition in a chaotic and indifferent world. Like Tolstoy's celebrated literary achievements, The Gospel in Brief has the distinct bearing of a classic: in its urgency and directness it is remarkably current, as if it were written only yesterday rather than a century ago., "Are you acquainted with Tolstoy's The Gospel in Brief? At its time, this book virtually kept me alive. . . . If you are not acquainted with it, then you cannot imagine what an effect it can have upon a person."-Ludwig Wittgenstein, in a letter to Ludwig von Ficker. The Gospel in Brief is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical Gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. Inspired in large measure by Tolstoy's meticulous study of the original Greek versions of the Bible, The Gospel in Brief is a highly original fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own influential religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a solution to "the problem of life," not an answer to theological or historical questions. As a result, he sets aside such issues as Jesus' genealogy and divinity, or whether Jesus in fact walked on water. Instead, he focuses on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what Tolstoy regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual. The result is a work that emphasizes the individual's spiritual condition in a chaotic and indifferent world. Like Tolstoy's celebrated literary achievements, The Gospel in Brief has the distinct bearing of a classic: in its urgency and directness it is remarkably current, as if it were written only yesterday rather than a century ago. Isabel Hapgood (1850-1928), author of A Survey of Russian Literature, also translated works by Gogol, Turgenev, and Gorky. Her translation of this classic work has been edited and introduced by F. A. Flowers III, an appellate lawyer from Birmingham, Alabama.

LC Classification NumberBS2555.T6452213 1997