This book presents a monographic study devoted to the spiritual and religious aspects of the artistic creativity of L. N. Tolstoy. Great importance is attached to the virtually unexplored “small” works and sketches of the writer, which are of fundamental importance in the study of Tolstoy’s ideas about the highest truth of life. In the Russian consciousness, the image of Tolstoy as a rebel and apostate, shaking the foundations of the church and state, has developed. In recent years, another idea has become increasingly popular - the idea of Tolstoy as a religious teacher of all mankind, the idea of the writer’s “spiritual ecumenism”. The author of the book is convinced that the Orthodox understanding of truth and righteousness should be recognized as essential in the artistic world of the writer. The disclosure of the Orthodox side of Tolstoy’s literary heritage in comparison with the non-Orthodox, undertaken in the book, allows us to significantly expand the understanding of the real complexity and richness of the personality and creativity of the great writer. The book is addressed to both philologists, philosophers, religious scholars, and everyone interested in the history of the cultural and spiritual life of Russia .