Understanding the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job) is a difficult task at times. On the one hand, the messages are frequently simple to understand and clearly applicable to anyone at any stage of life. On the other hand, connecting this literature to Jesus in the New Testament is complex. O’Donnell’s book engages the reader to think differently about the Wisdom Literature and see Christ in ways that perhaps he or she has never considered before.

The main body of the book contains seven chapters, six of which are written sermons on the first and last chapters of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The seventh chapter covers homiletics itself, in other words, how the Wisdom Literature ought to be preached. The seven main chapters total about 150 pages. The book also includes a brief introduction as well as appendices on Hebrew poetry and further study suggestions.

I found the sermons/chapters on Proverbs to be the strongest sections of the book. Recall that Proverbs 1 begins by telling us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But what exactly does the "fear" entail? O’Donnell’s study gives us perhaps the best definition of "fearing God" that I have seen in print, and it is worth quoting here from page 37:

"According to the book of Proverbs, ‘the fear of the Lord’ is a continual (Pr. 23:17), humble, and faithful submission to Yahweh, which compels one to hate evil (8:13) and turn away from it (16:6) and brings with it rewards better than all earthly treasures (15:16) – the rewards of a love for and a knowledge of God (1:29; 2:5; 9:10; 15:33), and long life (10:27; 14:27a; 19:23a), confidence (14:26), satisfaction, and protection (19:23)."

Now that is a thorough definition!

You rarely hear a sermon focused on Proverbs 31, which primarily talks about the virtuous wife. The lessons in the chapter, though, are very striking. This chapter reminded me of how blessed I am to have such a wonderful wife myself.

I did not enjoy O’Donnell’s sermons on Ecclesiastes as much as the rest of the book. To me, he seemed somewhat to tow what I might call the standard "Evangelical line," which tends to emphasize the relative superiority of ministerial "church" work to everything else. Perhaps I am not interpreting O’Donnell’s work well, though. To his credit, though, Ecclesiastes is a very difficult book to read and O’Donnell’s contribution to understanding God’s word here is still valuable.

The sermons on Job, I felt, were not particularly novel but still quite encouraging. As is frequently done, he focused on the redemptive aspects of suffering and emphasized the importance of trusting in Jesus Christ for providential care through trouble. Again, the attention given to linking Jesus to the text is worthy of note.

Overall, I found this book enlightening and encouraging in a number of ways. The sermon format, rather than the typical theological book, reads quite well and I found it consistently engaging. While not perfect, it is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of the Christian interested in going deeper into the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.

Interested in learning more? Check out the book at Amazon.com.

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

1. It is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government is Wrong by Andrew Napolitano – The Judge, host of FreedomWatch on Fox Business, has put together an amazing book that analyzes a host of topics from the standpoint of natural law. I will be reviewing this book on LCC soon but I’m going to say it now – you need to read this book. The data and stories he presents in the book make it easily worth every penny and a well-deserved place on your (or anyone else’s) bookshelf.

2. Libertarianism Today by Jacob Huebert – This book was on the list last year, but it warrants another mention because you can get it at a significantly reduced price by purchasing directly from the publisher. Huebert’s book is definitely a must-read, and is one of the best recent books on hardcore libertarianism in the past few years. LCC writer Laurence Vance has called it, “The best introduction to libertarianism on the market.”

3. Bourbon for Breakfast and It’s a Jetsons World by Jeffrey Tucker – Check out the LCC review of Bourbon for Breakfast, and you’ll see that it is a super read for anyone looking to circumvent statist restrictions upon their lives. Tucker’s followup work tells exciting stories of the little everyday miracles of the free market at work.

4. Liberty Defined by Ron Paul – Another gold standard in libertarian literature by one of liberty’s greatest defenders. See the LCC review for the full story.

5. Rollback by Thomas Woods – I am a huge fan of Tom Woods and have known him for over 5 years now. His latest book makes an eloquent case for dismantling pretty much everything the government currently does today.

6. Great Wars and Great Leaders by Ralph Raico – Leaders who take a country to war are often heralded as “great,” but the libertarian perspective dispenses such ideas as folly. War is the health of the state and the enemy of liberty, and Raico’s historical work is great ammunition in the war of ideas that we fight daily.

7. Myth of a Guilty Nation by Albert Jay Nock – This is an old book newly reprinted by the Mises Institute, and I’m excited to see it available again (because I’m a big fan of Nock and haven’t ever read this one). From the Mises.org description: “Nock’s book reminds us of what most everyone has forgotten, namely, that this was sold as a war for freedom and self-determination over imperial ambition. Along with that came some of the most rabid war propaganda ever fabricated until that point in time, all designed to make Germany into a devil nation. Nock’s brave book took on that idea and demonstrated that there was fault enough to go around on all sides. All through the 1920s, a Nockian-style retelling of the facts behind the war led to a dramatic shift in public opinion against World War I.” Awesome!

8. The Bastiat Collection Pocket Edition by Frederic Bastiat – If you haven’t read Bastiat’s The Law, you need to get on that immediately! This book contains all the major works of Bastiat in a very small volume, and makes a great gift.

9. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt – Need to learn a little more about economics? Start with the classic by Hazlitt, and never forget the first lesson again…

10. Christian Theology of Public Policy and Bible and Government by John Cobin – I would be remiss to write a book list on LCC and not mention the excellent work of John Cobin, especially in this volume. As Christian libertarians, these are must reads, and don’t forget to check out Cobin’s free Christian Theology of Public Policy Short Course series on LCC!

Check out other Top 10 book lists and book reviews on LCC for more ideas, and remember that every time you shop at Amazon.com through a LibertarianChristians.com link you are supporting the work of LCC! Thanks!

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Top 10 Libertarian Books for Christmas 2011

Christian Libertarian Books

Christian Theology of Public Policy, by John Cobin – A great way to start is to read John Cobin’s short course here on LCC, but his book is a must-have for Christian libertarian thinkers. His other book, Bible and Government (read the LCC review here), overlaps some material bust is worth reading as well.

On Civil Government, by David Lipscomb – Few people in the 19th century had a radical vision like David Lipscomb. His critique of statism from a Christian standpoint is classic. This book is a bit difficult to find sometimes but you can get the text for free here. Laurence Vance has it in stock in his classic reprints series, look for number 117.

Religion and Capitalism: Allies, Not Enemies, by Edmund Opitz – Another great book to help back up your defense of the free market from a Christian perspective. Also a bit difficult to find. (I managed to purchase a SIGNED copy on eBay once, though…)

The Libertarian Theology of Freedom, by Edmund Opitz – Read the review here.

Disciple of Liberty, by Jason Rink – Read the review here.

Christianity and War, by Laurence Vance – War is the health of the state, and the enemy of mankind. Laurence demolishes every “Christian” argument for war you’ll ever hear.

Foundations of Economics: A Christian View, by Shawn Ritenour – Every Christian ought to understand some economics, and Shawn’s book is a great way to get a thorough understanding. This one is not for the uninitiated.

The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy, by Thomas Woods – This book is especially useful for Catholics, obviously, and I highly recommend it.

General “Must-Read” Libertarian Books

For a New Liberty, by Murray Rothbard

Our Enemy, the State, by Albert Jay Nock

Healing Our World, by Mary Ruwart

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, by Thomas Woods

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, by Robert Murphy – I really like these aforementioned Politically Incorrect Guides because of how they serve as a jumping off point for so many super things to learn and consider.

Rollback, by Thomas Woods

The Law, by Frederic Bastiat

Bonus Material (for those who want extra challenges)

The Kingdom of God is Within You, by Leo Tolstoy – Read the review here.

Anarchy and Christianity, by Jacques Ellul – Read the review here.

Still looking for more? Check out the brand new-and-improved LCC Amazon Bookstore! Find all of these books and more, and a portion of the sale will go to support LibertarianChristians.com!

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How to start learning about Christian libertarianism

Idleman has provided us with a provocative book that challenges our conception of being a Christian. He uses a romantic relationship analogy to get us to think about what Jesus means to us. He calls it having the "Define the Relationship" Talk, or DTR. (Maybe you’ve had one of these before?) Idleman asks, are you a fan of Jesus, or a follower? Fans like Jesus, but they don’t really know Jesus nor have they committed themselves to a life of discipleship.

Not a Fan will be great for anyone who is on the fence about being a Christian. It challenges the reader to consider what Jesus says about himself, and come to grips with what a relationship with God truly means.

It is also good for those who want a little shake-up in their own walk. The book got me thinking about what parts of my life are "fan-based" and needed to be reevaluated. Overall, the book’s strength is in solid, Biblical content about committing one’s life wholly to Christ.

There are some vignettes here and there which break from the main theological content. I’m not sure to what extent it adds or detracts from the book. First, Idleman concludes almost every chapter with a story about someone who is truly "not a fan." Many of these are gripping and I found them to be pretty valuable. The power of the human story is undeniable. Second, he has footnotes in various places where primarily he makes little jokes, usually self-deprecating in some way. I imagine that he intended these to function like little jokes dropped into a sermon periodically, which is not surprising since he is a preacher. However, I didn’t find them to add much to the content.

I would really like to get this into the hands of friends, and see what they think. I imagine I will be giving away my copy before long, and I’ll see what happens…

Please consider buying Not a Fan at Amazon.com and LCC will then get a small kick-back from the sale. Remember, LCC receives a small percentage of any shopping you do at Amazon when you go through an LCC link. Help keep LCC growing and growing; your support is much appreciated!

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Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?

At its core, Jacob’s book addresses in brief the history of classical liberalism and the libertarian movement, explains the basics of the philosophy of liberty, and tells the stories of a number of modern libertarian organizations at work right now. It’s wonderfully entertaining, easy to read, and splendidly pithy.

Among Huebert’s most salient points is his excoriation of “conservatism” and its relationship to libertarianism. He completely demolishes the myth that Ronald Reagan was even close to a libertarian, and hopefully such words will shock conservatives into realizing that most, if not all, of “traditional conservatism” as enshrined in Reagan is nothing short of a lie.

I’m a particular fan of the chapter on war (read an excerpt here); it’s so great that I have to quote the first paragraph in full:

Libertarianism and war are not compatible. One reason why should be obvious: In war, governments commit legalized mass-murder. In modern warfare especially, war is not just waged among voluntary combatants, but kills, maims, and otherwise harms innocent people. Then, of course, wars must be funded through taxes, which are extracted from U.S. citizens by force — a form of legalized theft, as far as libertarians are concerned. And, historically, the U.S. has used conscription — legalized slavery — to force people to fight and die. In addition, an interventionist foreign policy makes civilians targets for retaliation, so governments indirectly cause more violence against their own people when they become involved in other countries’ affairs. Plus, war is always accompanied by many other new restrictions on liberty, many of which are sold as supposedly temporary wartime measures but then never go away.

And now I… have nothing else to say. This is it. This is what we need to communicate to everybody. War kills. War is immoral. To the Christian, aggressive war is among the greatest of all evils humans can commit. Peace is our code. Period.

Another great part of Jacob’s book is his chapter on education. Public, compulsory schooling is not libertarian. And guess what, vouchers are not a viable alternative. This principle is somewhat difficult to explain to many people, but I have contended for years that vouchers are just another back door for government control of education. Huebert does a much better job of explaining it than I ever have.

I could go on and on just describing the chapters themselves, but I want to give you a concise flavor for the book so I will stop with the praise here. However, there are a few weaknesses to the book that I would be remiss not to point out. First, I think that Jacob was a bit too critical of the Libertarian Party, and a bit too kind to the Campaign for Liberty. It’s true that the LP has not lived up to the radical vision of its founders at times, and there are questions that I still have about its future. Nevertheless, it continues to be the home of a huge number of amazing activists and thinkers, and we dismiss the effect that it can have. The LP will only fail to live up to its original purpose if we let it – Murray Rothbard said as much many years ago and prominent LP members such as Mary Ruwart and Lee Wrights say the same today.

In contrast, despite the influence of Ron Paul and the large amount of money initially invested, I am a bit underwhelmed by what the Campaign for Liberty has been able to do at the national level. In truth, the awareness that America now has of the Federal Reserve and its criminal nature is incredible, but is this the result of C4L or is it just the momentum from 2008? I personally wish C4L would be more a hub of local activism rather than another organization trying to take on the House of Representatives. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see C4L succeed, but I also want to make sure that local efforts are well-funded and well-staffed.

This leads me to another minor oversight in the book: the lack of discussion of local activism. Don’t get me wrong, I despise politics and the electoral process is completely inane. Moreover, I readily admit national politics stinks and is frequently a waste of money except in very specific situations (the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign being the most spectacular example). But on a local level (i.e. states, counties, cities) individuals can have very real impacts that truly promote liberty and help people live more freely. I wish Jacob had explored this more thoroughly, because I imagine that concrete examples of success would inspire people to get out there and make a difference.

Finally, the price tag is a bit stiff, but I still contend that you need this book on your bookshelf to have, read, and lend out. While Amazon.com generally sells the book for $35, you can get a paperback copy for $25 at the Mises Institute Store. No matter what you choose, the knowledge you will gain from reading this is totally worth it.

Please consider buying Libertarianism Today at Amazon.com and LCC will then get a small kick-back from the sale. Remember, LCC receives a small percentage of any shopping you do at Amazon when you go through an LCC link. Help keep LCC growing and growing; your support is much appreciated!

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What is the best book on the essentials of libertarianism?

Libertarianism Today, by Jacob Huebert. This is one of my favorite new books, and is arguably the best explanation of libertarianism set in the context of the 21st century that we have to date. My review of this book is forthcoming…

Nullification, by Thomas Woods. The idea of nullifying Federal law at the state level has really taken hold in the past year, and Tom has done a great job of explaining its use in American history with this excellent book. Go forth and nullify!

Foundations of Economics: A Christian View, by Shawn Ritenour. Hey homeschoolers, are you looking for an basic economics text that you can go through with your high-school age kids? Shawn’s book is what you want. Easier than Human Action or Man, Economy, and State, and far better than that garbage you’ll get from Bob Jones University Press. (No offense intended, but they really don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to political economy.) That being said, it’s not just for high-school students. This is Austrian economics at its best.

Faith and Liberty, by Alejandro A. Chafuen. A classic that every Christian libertarian should read.

Human Action (the Pocket Edition), by Ludwig von Mises. Make sure that Austrian in your life is never without some Mises. At $10, this version is hard to beat for affordable access to one of the greatest books on economics of all time. You can also get this directly from the Mises Institute Store. Coincidently, this is now the best-selling book at the Mises Institute of all time!

Disciple of Liberty, by Jason Rink. Many of our Christian friends are beginning to realize the corrupt nature of Government, and Jason’s short book really helps people to understand that being “conservative” doesn’t cut it. Plus, you can now get the ebook version for FREE until the end of 2010. How about that? (Note: You won’t find this on Amazon.) Check out my review of Jason’s book and see what you think.

The Road to Serfdom, by F.A. Hayek. Hayek’s works have surged in popularity over the last year, and this seminal work should be on every libertarian’s bookshelf.

How an Economy Grows, and Why it Crashes, by Peter Schiff. This book is great to give your friends who don’t understand what’s going on with the economy these days. Schiff explains how the market works in a way that everyone can enjoy, using humorous examples and solid principles to teach and entertain.

The Kingdom of God is Within You, by Leo Tolstoy. This marvelous work by Tolstoy is gripping. To see why, read my review.

Anarchy and Christianity, by Jacques Ellul. French philosopher Jacques Ellul had a way with words, and in this book he explains how he came to understand that Christianity and statism don’t mix. It’s challenging, interesting, and actually quite short. Read my review here.

Bonus: All us tech-lovers have been curiously watching the ebook reader and tablet computer wars emerging on the market over the last year. So if you are so inclined, don’t forget that an Amazon Kindle or iPad filled with the Mises Institute library and Christian Classics is clearly the coolest gift ever (hint hint anybody who loves me). You know, almost every book the Mises Institute publishes (and much more) is available to download for free as a PDF on their website. You could easily fill a flash drive with liberty PDF’s from the Mises Library and tons of classic theological texts from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and Project Gutenberg.

Merry Christmas to all!

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Top 10 Books for Libertarians–Christmas 2010 Edition

Russian writer Leo Tolstoy is considered one of the greatest novelists of all time. War and Peace and Anna Karenina have inspired millions over the last century. Less well-known about Tolstoy, though, is that his interpretation of Christian ethics has had a profound effect upon the world, especially regarding non-resistance and pacifism. In this paper, I will examine the development of these themes in Tolstoy’s philosophy as they appear in The Kingdom of God is Within You.

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1838 into an aristocratic family. He was the son of Count Nicholas Ilich Tolstoy and Princess Marya Nikolayevna Volkonsky, whose marriage was one of negotiation and convenience. Social class meant everything in eighteenth-century Russia, and the Tolstoys were part of the upper echelon of power. Leo’s ancestry included generals, diplomats, and ministers of the Tsarist rulers. Thus, Tolstoy enjoyed the privileges of the high class, such as the ability to attend university. As a young man, he lived a profligate and wild life while attending the University of Kazan, struggling to find a purpose in his life. He decided to join the military and went to war. Seeing the grim reality of war motivated him to write, and he achieved some early success in his publications while on the front. He finally married at age 34 and settled down to begin the major portion of his literary career. He also began to re-explore religion and came to a realization about God, the church, the state, and self. It was during this time that he reflected upon the writings of anarchists such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and saw that non-resistance was the only means of lasting change to be found.

In 1884, Tolstoy expounded upon his beliefs in What I Believe, and this work was promptly banned in Russia for its negative imagery of the state and the Russian church. However, it was read widely outside of Russia and garnered much attention, especially by those advocating non-violence in other countries, such as the Quakers in America. Despite the ban, Russian secular and religious intellectuals circulated copies and began attacking Tolstoy’s ideas. In 1894, Tolstoy published The Kingdom of God is Within You, which is a further explanation of his beliefs and a response to his opponents. He writes in Kingdom of the newfound criticism: “These [criticisms of What I Believe] the government tolerated, and even encouraged. So that the refutation of a book which no one was supposed to know anything about was even chosen as the subject for theological dissertations in the academies.” (30) Of course, any work that criticizes the status quo tends to stir such desperate measures.

Tolstoy’s Russia was a country dominated by an elite class of aristocrats, government bureaucrats, military “heroes,” and religious officials. The peasant class was bitterly oppressed through legal maneuvering, taxation, conscription, and a church that legitimized the oppression. An unholy alliance of church and state provided the pretense to keep the peasants from improving their condition. I believe this led Tolstoy away from a traditional creedal Christianity, which to him emphasized conformity, status quo, and doctrines that few people actually believed. Tolstoy viewed the church-state alliance as a complete aberration and perversion of true Christianity for the purpose of keeping the elite in power and the poor supplying their material well-being. He even rejected (though not consistently) the notion of private property, at least as it existed enforced by the state at that time. In contrast, Tolstoy’s conception of Christianity took the words of Jesus with utmost seriousness, elevating the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount as the supreme good.

Tolstoy abhorred violence of any kind. In particular, he viewed the state and its wars as the chief enemies of peace. While normal men interact on a peaceful level the overwhelming majority of the time, war very quickly brings peace and prosperity to ruin:

“Warriors are the scourge of the world. We struggle against nature and ignorance and obstacles of all kinds to make our wretched life less hard. Learned men – benefactors of all – spend their lives in working, in seeking what can aid, what be of use, what can alleviate the lot of their fellows. They devote themselves unsparingly to their task of usefulness, making one discovery after another, enlarging the sphere of human intelligence, extending the bounds of science, adding each day some new store to the sum of knowledge, gaining each day prosperity, ease, strength for their country. War breaks out. In six months the generals have destroyed the work of twenty years of effort, of patience, and of genius. That is what is meant by not falling into the most hideous materialism.” (152)

Tolstoy saw through the veneer of goodness the state wears, with its promises of protection, order, and justice, for what the state really is: organized, institutionalized violence. By its very nature, government cannot reduce violence whatsoever. Tolstoy writes, “Government authority, even if it does suppress private violence, always introduces into the life of men fresh forms of violence, which tend to become greater and greater in proportion to the duration and strength of the government.” (170) Government appears on its face to have some semblance of voluntary nature, but this is a façade since everything a government is capable of doing is only possible because of coercion. “All state obligations, payment of taxes, fulfillment of state duties, and submission to punishments, exiles, fines, etc., to which people appear to submit voluntarily, are always based on bodily violence or the threat of it.” (166)

Yet people accept statism as inevitable, even as right and good, despite the oppression and murder the state perpetrates. In Tolstoy’s words, men know that murder is wrong but are assured by their supposed betters in state offices that what they do is moral, just, and good. They see this inconsistency but believe it is their ignorance that prevents them from understanding the contradiction. “The very grossness and obviousness of the inconsistency confirms them in this conviction.” (304)

Thus, men have become deluded by the state into submission, especially with regards to the use of force. Everyone is under “the condition of the hypnotized,” and like a hypnotized person they will feel and act as they are commanded. The state influences the people such that they lose the power of criticizing state actions, and therefore they follow wherever the state leads them either by example, precept, or suggestion.

How shall mankind overcome the leviathan state? Tolstoy’s answer was Christianity, the absolute dependence upon and practice of the teachings of Christ. Tolstoy derived his ethical principles primarily from the Sermon on the Mount. To him, Christianity was not a mystic religion but a “new theory of life” (hence the subtitle of The Kingdom of God is Within You). Jesus ushered in the new divine theory of life, which “recognizes life not in his own individuality, and not in societies of individualities, but in the eternal undying source of life – in God; and to fulfill the will of God he is ready to sacrifice his individual and family and social welfare.”

The state uses force to push its agenda forward, but must a Christian respond in kind to improve his own situation or bring Christianity to others? Tolstoy appeals to Matthew 5:39, “Resist not an evil person,” as the pinnacle of Jesus’ teachings and as the ultimate means of opposing violence. He treats Jesus’ words not as a theoretical proposition to be pondered and somewhat assented to, but as a realistic, actionable command. Indeed, every person must decide how to respond when he is attacked: “People often think the question of non-resistance to evil by force is a theoretical one, which can be neglected. Yet this question is presented by life itself to all men, and calls for some answer from every thinking man.” (186)

The Christian life, to him, was a progression toward divine perfection, and is characterized by a life of loving others. This love drives us not only to love those that love us, but to love our enemies even to the point of practicing pacifism towards aggression, especially that of the state. He reasons there is no other way of interpreting Jesus and acting otherwise is contrary to the Gospel message. Thus, the Christian cannot use the tools of the state at all. To Tolstoy, the statist theory of life, emphasizing aggression for the purpose of order, was irreconcilable with the Christian life. The state never has been and never could be the Kingdom of God, in fact the Kingdom of God makes government irrelevant. “No honest and serious-minded man of our day can help seeing the incompatibility of true Christianity – the doctrine of meekness, forgiveness of injuries, and love – with government, with its pomp, acts of violence, executions, and wars.” (237)

Tolstoy would say Christianity is the only rational option for peace, and always has been so. In the present age, Jesus’ teaching has become self-evident even in practice, since all efforts of returning violence for violence with the state has progressively made the world worse. The state theory of life requires violence to persist, and only results in the escalation of violence. He even preemptively answers the “mutually assured destruction” strategy to maintain peace in the presence of weapons of mass destruction:

“It is often said that the invention of terrible weapons of destruction will put an end to war. That is an error. As the means of extermination are improved, the means of reducing men who hold the state conception of life to submission can be improved to correspond. They may slaughter them by thousands, by millions, they may tear them to pieces, still they will march to war like senseless cattle. Some will want beating to make them move, others will be proud to go if they are allowed to wear a scrap of ribbon or gold lace.” (206)

But how could someone possibly adopt this teaching, when living in an age of the totalitarian state? Tolstoy would answer simply: give up one’s previous way of life, one’s previous way of thinking, one’s allegiance to all but the source of life, and live free of hypocrisy. “A man need only make this theory of life his own, for the fetters which seemed so indissolubly forged upon him to drop off of themselves, and for him to feel himself absolutely free, just as a bird would feel itself free in a fenced-in place [if] directly it took to its wings.” (210) The understanding Christian is no longer under “the condition of the hypnotized.” But these Christians transcend those who simply want a different government; they will act in freedom right now, despite state oppression, and eventually the state must fall. “Revolutionary enemies attack the government from without. Christianity does not attack it at all, but, from within, it destroys all the foundations on which government rests.” (231)

Why has this remarkable teaching not already spread throughout the world? Actually, it has. There always have been Christians willing to live consistently with the teachings of Jesus, but they are not always visible to us. Moreover, Tolstoy would say the church as an institution has perverted the message of non-resistance, sometimes deliberately hiding this message of Jesus from Christians. Even though he painted the Russian church of his day in an especially negative light, he showed that churches throughout history had suppressed this ethic. Why has the church done this? Because of the love of power. The state church always held a privileged position, and church officials always preferred to keep their status rather than tell the truth. The ramifications of this practice were clear to Tolstoy; he understood the wars and oppression by the state as a direct result of the church’s refusal to practice the message of Jesus as a new way of life. Though perhaps an overly harsh assessment of the church as an institution through millennia, one cannot deny that churches have indeed been complicit in legitimizing aggression against others. The rhetoric of evangelical churches today glorifying the war in Iraq and Afghanistan confirm that this behavior continues (even if there is no “state church”). The only solution is to return to Jesus’ teaching, believe in it wholeheartedly, and practice it consistently with no reservation. Tolstoy may not have accepted traditional creedal Christianity, nor held traditional dogmas, but his faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus is truly admirable.

Tolstoy believed Jesus’ peaceful message would persist through “the foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21), but it is remarkable to see the effects Tolstoy’s own words had upon the twentieth century. The Kingdom of God is Within You was immediately banned in Russia upon publication, but had far reaching influence elsewhere. Mahatma Gandhi read the book and was “overwhelmed” by its message, and it greatly influenced his non-violent revolution in India. Martin Green writes, “In Gandhi the book certainly ignited an explosion, and its impact on others around him spread like the bombardment of particles in an atomic pile, so that before the chain reaction was over, the British Empire was blown open and India was a free country, under the aegis of non-violence.” (v) Through Gandhi, Tolstoy influenced Martin Luther King and the non-violent progression of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Contrast these men of non-violence with the history of Russia, where The Kingdom of God is Within You was banned. Seven years following Tolstoy’s death, violent revolutionaries seized control of the Russian government and instituted communism – the Red Revolution. The result was the death of untold millions under one of the most horrible political regimes ever to exist. In fact, the twentieth-century could be described as a century of war. Despite massive advances in science, engineering, medicine, and business, statism is a primary cause of untold millions of deaths from world wars, countless military interventions, and totalitarian regimes. If only Tolstoy had been heeded, such unnecessary death might have been prevented.

Tolstoy writes with clarity and a passion for logic that penetrates deep into the soul. He challenges the contemporary Christian to reconsider the use of force at every turn, to accept Jesus’ teaching as the authority for life, and to reject the state. Far worse than a necessary evil, the state is an unnecessary parasite. Finally, Tolstoy levels a damning charge of complacency and inconsistency against the church today, serving as a reminder to obey God rather than men.

Please consider buying The Kingdom of God is Within You at Amazon.com and LCC will then get a small kick-back from the sale. Remember, LCC receives a small percentage of any shopping you do at Amazon when you go through an LCC link. Help keep LCC growing and growing; your support is much appreciated!

References:

Leo Tolstoy. The Kingdom of God is Within You: Christianity Not as a Mystic Religion but as a New Theory of Life. Trans: Constance Garnett. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1984.

Leo Tolstoy: The Centennial Anniversary. www.tolstoycentennial.com.

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Leo Tolstoy Against the State

The Cult of the Presidency is currently available for free in electronic form from the Cato Institute’s website. The author Gene Healy gave the keynote address at the Students for Liberty Texas Conference that I helped host last fall in Austin, and I left with more than a few copies. You may recall that I included it in my Top 10 Books for Christian Libertarians – Christmas 2009 Edition.

So, right now, get a PDF of the book for exactly $0.00. You can also get it in an ePub or Kindle format if you so desire. You don’t want to miss this!

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More Free Books: Cult of the Presidency

Besides the inimitable Mike (who is actually a computer), my favorite character was definitely Professor Bernardo de la Paz, affectionately called “Prof” throughout the book. He identifies himself a rational anarchist and always has something interesting to add to whatever is going on at the time.

I have taken the liberty to type out my favorite quotes from the book for your reading pleasure. Maybe it will inspire you to read the novel in full…

“Under what circumstances may the State justly place its welfare above that of a citizen?”
“Prof, as I see, [there] are no circumstances under which [the] State is justified in placing its welfare ahead of mine.”
“Good, we have a starting point.”
~ Professor de la Paz and Manuel O’Kelly-Davis

“Under what circumstances is it moral for a group to do that which is not moral for a member of that group to do alone?”
“Uh… that’s a trick question.”
“It is the key question, dear Wyoming. A radical question that strikes to the root of the whole dilemma of government. Anyone who answers honestly and abides by all consequences knows where he stands – and what he will die for.”
~ Professor de la Paz and Wyoming Knott

“A rational anarchist believes that such concepts as ‘state’ and ‘society’ and ‘government’ have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame… as blame, guilt, responsibility are taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluation, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world… aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge and self-failure.”
~ Professor de la Paz

“Sir, there was a time when it was not simply expensive to ship goods across oceans but impossible. Then it was expensive, difficult, dangerous. Today you sell your goods half around your planet almost as cheaply as next door; long-distance shipping is the least important factor in cost. Gentlemen, I am not an engineer. But I have learned this about engineers. When something must be done, engineers can find a way that is economically feasible. If you want the grain that we can grow, turn your engineers loose.”
~ Professor de la Paz

“A managed democracy is a wonderful thing, Manuel, for the managers… and its greatest strength is a ‘free press’ when ‘free’ is defined as ‘responsible’ and the managers define what is ‘irresponsible.’ ”
~ Professor de la Paz

“Comrade Members, like fire and fusion, government is a dangerous servant and a terrible master. You now have freedom – if you can keep it. But do remember that you can lose this freedom more quickly to yourselves than to any other tyrant.”
~ Professor de la Paz

“Distrust the obvious, suspect the traditional, for in the past mankind has not done well when saddling itself with governments… Whatever you do, do not let the past be a straitjacket! ”
~ Professor de la Paz

“But in writing your constitution let me invite attention to the wonderful virtues of the negative! Accentuate the negative! Let your document be studded with things the government is forever forbidden to do.”
~ Professor de la Paz

“I would be satisfied to have the Golden Rule be the only law; I see no need for any other, nor for any method of enforcing. But if you really believe that your neighbors must have laws for their own good, why shouldn’t you pay for it? Comrades, I beg you – do not resort to compulsory taxation. There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
~ Professor de la Paz

And of course, we can never forget that Moon is the book that first introduced into the vernacular the initialism TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch).

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Great Libertarian Quotes in Heinlein

Tolstoy’s Russia was a country dominated by an elite class of aristocrats, government bureaucrats, military “heroes,” and religious officials. The peasant class was bitterly oppressed through legal maneuvering, conscription, and a church that legitimized the oppression. I believe this led Tolstoy away from a traditional creedal Christianity – which to him emphasized conformity and status quo around doctrines that none actually believed (at the time) – and toward a view of Jesus that elevated the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount as the supreme good.

Matthew 5:39, “Resist not an evil person,” was the pinnacle of Jesus’ teachings to Tolstoy. He believed in “Christianity not as a mystic religion but as a new theory of life” (the subtitle of the book). Jesus ushered in the new divine theory of life, which “recognizes life not in his own individuality, and not in societies of individualities, but in the eternal undying source of life – in God; and to fulfill the will of God he is ready to sacrifice his individual and family and social welfare.” The Christian life, to him, was a progression toward divine perfection, and this life is characterized by loving others. This love drives us not only to love those that love us, but also to love our enemies even to the point of practicing strict pacifism towards aggression. He reasons that there is no other way to interpret Jesus, and to act otherwise is completely counter to the Gospel message.

Tolstoy would say the church as an institution has perverted this message of non-resistance, even deliberately hiding this message of Jesus from Christians. He saw the Russian church in an especially negative light, but showed that throughout history the church had suppressed this ethic. Why? Because of the love of power. The state church always held a privileged position, and church officials always preferred to keep their status rather than tell the truth. The ramifications of this practice were clear to Tolstoy; he declared the wars and oppression by the state as a direct result of the church’s refusal to practice the message of Jesus as a new way of life. The only solution is to return to Jesus’ teaching, believe in it wholeheartedly, and practice it consistently with no reservation.

The Kingdom of God is Within You was immediately banned in Russia upon publication, but had far reaching influence elsewhere. Mahatma Gandhi read the book and was “overwhelmed” by its message, greatly influencing his non-violent revolution in India. Martin Luther King also held Tolstoy in great esteem. Tolstoy may not have held to traditional Christian doctrine, but his determined adherence to the words of Jesus is remarkable. It brings to mind the words of Gandhi: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

I certainly do not admonish Christians to adopt his beliefs in full, because I do believe that God was in Christ reconciling himself to the world as believers have said for two millenia. However, taking Tolstoy’s philosophy of non-resistance to heart is instructive and valuable. Tolstoy challenges the contemporary Christian to reconsider the use of force at every turn, leveling a damning charge of complacency and inconsistency against the church today.

For more information on Leo Tolstoy, check out the Tolstoy Centennial Website.

UPDATE: I failed to mention that I have an exegesis of Matthew 5:38-42 posted here at LCC. Again, I’m not really a strict pacifist but I’m very sympathetic and am very willing to listen.

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Leo Tolstoy and Non-Resistance