The Kingdom of God Is Within You · Chapter
V explained
Tolstoy examines the profound contradictions between professed Christian principles and the actual lives of the cultured and ruling classes.
What happens
Tolstoy examines the profound contradictions between professed Christian principles and the actual lives of the cultured and ruling classes. He details how every aspect of their existence—from daily comforts to professional roles—depends on the exploitation and oppression of working people, creating an agonizing moral dissonance. The chapter culminates in the most glaring contradiction: the acceptance of war and military service by Christian nations, despite the clear teaching of love for enemies. Tolstoy cites various voices from peace congresses and clergy to underscore that this hypocrisy is widely recognized yet unaddressed, making the current state of affairs untenable.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of Society
Tolstoy details the glaring hypocrisy of the cultured classes who profess brotherhood, justice, and Christianity while living lives built on exploitation and oppression.
True Christianity vs. Pagan Life-Conception
The chapter contrasts the true Christian teaching of love and nonresistance with the pagan acceptance of war, violence, and state power.
Critique of Church and State
Tolstoy criticizes both the state for enforcing military service and the church for failing to preach against war, thus complicity in the contradiction.
Characters to notice
- Leo Tolstoy
Author and narrator, exposing the contradictions in the lives of the higher classes and the hypocrisy of Christian nations regarding war.
- Jesus Christ
His teachings on brotherhood, equality, and love are referenced as the standard against which modern life is measured and found wanting.
- Frédéric Passy
Quoted from a peace congress, calling for renunciation of conquest and violence as crimes against humanity.
- Farrar
Mentioned as a source of a quote about the incompatibility of Christianity and war, though the quote is attributed to Rev. G. D. Bartlett.
Key passages
“We are all brothers, and yet every morning my brother or my sister carries out my chamberpot.”
Despite professing universal brotherhood, the wealthy rely on the menial labor of others, treating them as inferiors.
Illustrates the daily, tangible hypocrisy of the upper classes.
“The whole life of our higher classes is one solid contradiction, which is the more agonizing, the more sensitive man’s conscience is.”
The existence of the privileged is a continuous moral conflict that causes greater suffering the more aware a person is.
Summarizes Tolstoy's central critique of the cultured class.
“We are all Christian nations, who live the same spiritual life... we are all called to take part in murder, which must inevitably take place, tomorrow, if not today.”
Despite sharing a common Christian civilization and mutual respect, we are forced to participate in killing each other at any moment.
Highlights the ultimate contradiction between Christian unity and the reality of war.