“And again Leo Tolstoy and his conflict with the Church, as much as possible?!” - the reader will say when he sees this book, - and he will be wrong. There are conflicts in history to which humanity returns again and again - not because new facts have been discovered, but because in a new round of life the old conflict is unexpectedly filled with a different content and requires a different understanding. Society is changing, traditional ideas are breaking down - not to mention the views of the individual. And now, when the Church has begun to occupy a prominent place in public life and in the minds of many people, the question: why did the great Russian classic dislike her so much, dislike her so much that he stood alone in the fight against her, requires an answer at the level of our today understanding. The answer is not one-line, like in a computer game: who was whoever won this struggle is right - but a complex one, thrown back into the multi-layered culture of the past and giving today the basis for personal choice. “Father Georgy Orekhanov is a famous theologian and researcher of the biography of Leo Tolstoy. The combination is rare, but possible. His articles and books about the conflict between Tolstoy and the Russian Orthodox Church are, in my opinion, the best that has been written about this since the conflict itself, which began more than a hundred years ago. Unlike many church critics of Tolstoy, Father Georgy knows and loves Tolstoy and hears in this conflict not the sounds of war, but the passionate dialogue of the Orthodox Church and Russian literature - two hypostases of our spirituality." Povel Basinsky Source: Contents: Prologue. Is it really necessary one book about L. Tolstoy? 9Chapter one. Epoch 19What is anticlericalism? 25What is secularization? 41 The significance of the Enlightenment in the spiritual life of Europe 53 Tolstoy and the Russian intelligentsia 58 The protest nature of the worldview 63 The complex of guilt before the people 65 Panmoralism 69 Dogmatism 73 The religious crisis of Russian society 76 How to study religious experience? 82 Chapter two. Spiritual biography 106Childhood, adolescence, youth 106Tolstoy's Diary 111Optina Pustyn 115Spiritual turning point 124 Chapter three. Space of spiritual experience 155 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 158 “Creeds” of the 1850s 171 First non-meeting with Dostoevsky: the image of Christ 178 Gospel 186 God 191 Faith 197 Non-resistance to evil by force 209 Second non-meeting with Dostoevsky: loitering 212 Christ and the Church 214 Third non-meeting with Dostoevsky: immortality, Resurrection, Church 218 The fourth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: morality, teaching, law 223 The fifth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: the beauty of Christ's Face 224 Eucharist 228 The sixth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: insolence 238 Chapter four. Tolstoy as a religious type 239General tendencies of liberal theology of the 19th century. 239Religious humanism 247Non-religious humanism 252Results: patchwork religion? 260 Chapter five. Crime. The main accomplice 265Some features of Chertkov’s biography 271In England (1897-1908) 284Again in Russia. Monopoly on Tolstoy 296Autoapology. Chertkov through the eyes of his contemporaries 304 Mysterious: anarchists, populists, social democrats, Bolsheviks 316 Instead of a conclusion: The finishing touches to the portrait of V.G. Chertkova, or “psychology at full speed” 333 Chapter six. Crime. Witnesses for the prosecution 338Wife 339Chief Prosecutor 346Consul 362Philosopher 387Seventh non-meeting with Dostoevsky: Salt town 390 Chapter seven. Crime. Witnesses for the defense 393Wife 393Aunt 397Eighth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: “Not this, not that” 407Ninth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: “The support jumped back” 408Sister 410Daughter 414 Chapter eight. Voice of God 438 The Novel “Resurrection” 444 Synodal Act 450 What is anathema 483 Was there a curse? 487 “Excommunication” by Leo Taxil (the great hoax of the 19th century) 488 Chapter nine. Voice of the people 5031901 Church, power and society 503 Leo Tolstoy and Russian bishops 520 Leo Tolstoy and Russian priests 531 The departure and death of Tolstoy 546 The tenth non-meeting with Dostoevsky: hellfire 548 The mysterious telegram 553 The circle is closed 562 Epilogue. The main witness. Can the Church forgive Tolstoy? 574List of sources and literature 586List of used abbreviations and special designations 587Name index 588Acknowledgments 601Illustrations 602