Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
Please share your thinking after you read Tolstoy. I have The Kingdom of God is Within You on my Kindle but I haven't gotten around to reading it. But as a Catholic (lapsed, but born-and-bred), I've always wondered about the religious spin on "just war."
I think you will be challenged by Tolstoy’s direct interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount and his impassioned criticism of the “Church”. He claims that Churches were a direct result of men failing to accept the clear teachings of Christ regarding things like nonviolent resistance to evil. That the disagreements resulted in the establishment of churches in order to define right doctrine from wrong doctrine. That church leaders and infallible Popes were given the authority to interpret and pass along dogma which serves only the purposes of the very same leaders. In short, your Catholic Church, among the many others is as far from real Christianity as the heathen. My paraphrasing. But I am still reading.....maybe there is a surprise ending.