The Kingdom of God Is Within You

I think Leo Tolstoy might be fairly well known in the US due to "War and Peace" and, possibly, "Anna Karenina". But his nonfiction or autobiographical works deserve attention as well. I would highlight two of these: "The Kingdom of God is Within you" -- I think Mahatma Gandhi considered this to be one of the three most influential books for his philofophy of "nonviolent resistence". Even though Tolstoy was already considered a literary genius in his country, the Russian czar initially banned this book due to negative imagery of the Russian church. So I think it was first published in Germany or elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You) "A Confession" -- a short book that is somewhat related to the previous one; depicts young Tolstoy's "search for the meaning of life" (or, God). It had a huge impact on me (even though I read it first being 30+). This would be among my first recommendations for books to read when you're 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession Also, this might give some more context to understand Tolstoy's nonfiction:…

"A Confession" and "The Kingdom of God is Within You" by Leo Tolstoy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_Y... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kingdom_of_God_Is_Within_You)

I think "The Kingdom of God is Within You" by Tolstoy was the most life changing book I read this year. It made me start thinking about the idea of sin, which I haven't given much thought about before since I was not raised as a Christian and do not identify myself as one. But sin is such a powerful concept for understanding my own weakness and shortcomings and the evils that come about when I let them control my life. It is also a very powerful message against the corruption of Church and State and the necessity of peaceful rebellion against these corruptions if they do not allow the living of a Christian life.