The Kingdom of God Is Within You · Chapter
Chapter IX: Christian Liberation from Human Power explained
Tolstoy argues that true Christianity frees individuals from all human authority, as Christians recognize only the divine law of love.
What happens
Tolstoy argues that true Christianity frees individuals from all human authority, as Christians recognize only the divine law of love. He describes how Christians cannot swear allegiance, pay taxes for violence, serve in the military, or participate in courts, and he illustrates the growing phenomenon of conscientious refusal in Russia, which undermines state power without violent struggle.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom from Human Power
Tolstoy argues that a Christian cannot recognize any human authority, as submission to government violates the divine law of love.
Nonresistance to Evil
Christians refuse to use violence or participate in state violence, even when threatened with suffering, following Christ's example of non-striving.
True Christianity vs. Pagan Life-Conception
The pagan world-conception allows serving both God and state, but true Christianity demands exclusive obedience to God's law, destroying state foundations.
Hypocrisy of Society
Governments claim to serve reason and good while punishing those who refuse to participate in violence, exposing their hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Leo Tolstoy
Author and narrator, presenting the argument for Christian non-submission to government.
- Jesus Christ
Teacher whose law of love is the sole guide for Christians, referenced through the prophecy 'he shall not strive, nor cry'.
- Peter Sidorov
Mentioned as an example of a Russian peasant who refused military service, illustrating Christian resistance.
- Napoleon
Referenced as a figure whose conquests exemplify pagan state power contrasted with Christian non-resistance.
- Constantine the Great
Mentioned in the context of the historical alliance between church and state that corrupted Christianity.
- Nicholas I
Referenced as a Russian emperor whose government demanded oaths and military service from subjects.
- Catherine the Great
Mentioned as a ruler whose policies exemplified state violence against peasants.
- Yemelyan Pugachev
Referenced as a leader of peasant rebellion, contrasting violent revolt with Christian non-resistance.
Key passages
“A Christian frees himself from human power by recognizing over himself nothing but God's power, the law of which, revealed to him by Christ, he recognizes in himself, and to which alone he submits.”
A Christian becomes free from human authority by acknowledging only God's authority, whose law of love he discovers within himself and obeys exclusively.
Tolstoy's core thesis on Christian liberation from state power.
“It is impossible to serve two masters.”
No one can obey both God and human government when their demands conflict.
Biblical allusion (Matthew 6:24) used to justify refusal of allegiance to the state.
“They are those individual bees which begin to separate from the swarm and fly about, awaiting what cannot be delayed—the rising of the whole swarm after them.”
These conscientious objectors are like bees that leave the hive first, signaling that the entire swarm will soon follow.
Metaphor for the inevitable spread of Christian non-submission undermining state power.
“The governments know this, and are afraid of these phenomena more than of all socialists, communists, anarchists, and their plots with their dynamite bombs.”
Governments fear Christian non-resistance more than violent revolutionaries because it cannot be suppressed by force.
Tolstoy contrasts the power of nonviolent Christian witness with revolutionary violence.
