It is very important to understand that L.N. Tolstoy was actually an opponent not only of his contemporary Church (like, say, Martin Luther), but also of Christianity as a whole... In a letter to teacher A.I. To the nobleman on December 13, 1899, Tolstoy writes: ... “teaching the so-called law of God to children is the most terrible crime that one can only imagine. Torture, murder, rape of children are nothing compared to this crime...”

Tolstoy did not believe in authenticity, i.e.

the “divine inspiration” of the Gospel, and considered confession to be an encouragement of immorality, since repentance and “forgiveness eliminate fears of sin.” Inventions about heaven and hell are immoral, devaluing the value of a good earthly life, selfless, and not built on a cunning calculation, after all sins, to gain salvation through repentance. According to Tolstoy, all historically established religions hinder morality. A person cannot be a “servant of God” because “God would certainly prevent such vileness.” The individual is responsible for his own actions and should not shift it to God. Tolstoy rejected the dogma of the Trinity as a counterintuitive version of pagan polytheism.

In a letter to A.I. Tolstoy wrote to the nobleman on December 13, 1899: “...I clearly saw how happily humanity should and can live and how senselessly it, torturing itself, destroys generation after generation, I pushed further and further the root cause of this madness and this destruction: at first it was left to this the cause is a false economic structure, then state violence that supports this structure; now I have come to the conviction that the main reason for everything is the false religious teaching transmitted by upbringing.”

Tolstoy really did not believe in a “personal living God.” Christ was a man conceived and born naturally. Tolstoy tried to free morality from supernatural forces. He believed that the sacred object of faith is God, but these are just the best personal qualities person: love, goodness, conscience, honesty, work. Dignity, freedom, responsibility...

The publication of the novel “Resurrection” in 1899 and its simultaneous publication abroad with the preservation of all texts seized by censorship in Russian publications led to indignation and confusion in the government and higher church spheres. The appointment in 1900 of the first presence in the synod of Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, who had repeatedly previously tried to speed up the church reprisal against Tolstoy, and finally, the extreme bitterness of Chief Prosecutor Pobedonostsev, presented in the novel as a repulsive reactionary person under the name Toporov - all this accelerated preparations for Tolstoy’s excommunication. By the end of February 1901, the many years of efforts of the “church fathers” culminated in a scandalous act, which for a long time became the subject of bewilderment and condemnation by everyone. thinking people of all countries, peoples and classes.

With excommunication, the first period of resistance by the government and church to Tolstoy’s educational and denunciatory activities ends, characterized by the absence of extreme measures of persecution of the writer. The autocracy and the church are moving on to an open attack on Tolstoy, placing him by church excommunication outside the protection of the force of religious dogmas and even, as it were, outside civil laws, which was extremely dangerous, taking into account the lack of culture, religious fanaticism and the Black Hundred leavened patriotism of the “true Russian” people, intensely fueled by the government and the church in the backward and reactionary-monarchist sections of the population.

So, the definition of the synod was not a harmless pastoral message, “a certificate of falling away from the church,” but was a disguised call from a dark crowd of fanatics and Black Hundreds for physical reprisal against Tolstoy. Like the evangelical Pontius Pilate, the synod handed Tolstoy over to a crowd of fanatics and “washed its hands of it.” Protected by all the regulations and laws of the Russian Empire aimed at establishing autocracy and Orthodoxy, the church was the stronghold and inspirer of the Black Hundred reaction, and the signal given by the “excommunication” to deal with Tolstoy represented an unambiguous and real threat.

The police-gendarmerie apparatus and tsarist censorship closed a ring around Tolstoy. Particularly careful surveillance was established over his every move. Newspapers and magazines are prohibited from publishing information and articles related to excommunication. Every effort was made to suppress any speeches about solidarity with Tolstoy.

In the novel “Resurrection,” Tolstoy, with his characteristic ruthlessness and stunning power of depiction, carried out his long-planned denunciation of the church - the falsity of its dogmas and church rituals, designed to deceive the people, exposed the depravity of the system government controlled, its anti-national essence. In response to this, the clergy began to especially persistently demand reprisals against the writer. Pobedonostsev, using his influence on the tsar, as his teacher in the past, and then an adviser on church issues in connection with his position as chief prosecutor of the synod, obtained the consent of Nicholas II to this reprisal.

Nothing restrained the “holy fathers” of the Russian Orthodox Church anymore; the synod received freedom of action...

24 February. In 1901, “Church Gazette under the Holy Governing Synod” published the following definition of the Holy Synod of February 20–22, 1901 about Count Leo Tolstoy, immediately reprinted by all newspapers and many magazines:

From the beginning, the Church of Christ suffered blasphemies and attacks from numerous heretics and false teachers who sought to overthrow it and shake its essential foundations, which are based on faith in Christ, the Son of the Living God. But all the forces of hell, according to the promise of the Lord, could not overcome the Holy Church, which will remain unconquered forever. And in our days, by God’s permission, a new false teacher, Count Leo Tolstoy, has appeared. A world-famous writer, Russian by birth, Orthodox by baptism and upbringing, Count Tolstoy, in the seduction of his proud mind, boldly rebelled against the Lord and against His Christ and against His holy heritage, clearly before everyone renounced the Mother who fed and raised him, the Orthodox Church, and devoted his literary activity and the talent given to him from God to the dissemination among the people of teachings contrary to Christ and the Church, and to the destruction in the minds and hearts of people of the fatherly faith, the Orthodox faith, which established the universe, by which our ancestors lived and were saved, and by which they have hitherto held on and Holy Rus' was strong. In his writings and letters, scattered in great numbers by him and his disciples all over the world, especially within the borders of our dear Fatherland, he

A) preaches, with the zeal of a fanatic, the overthrow of all dogmas Orthodox Church And

B) the very essence of the Christian faith:

1. rejects the personal living God in the Holy Trinity, glorified,

2 rejects God, the Creator of the universe,

3 rejects God - the Provider of the universe

4. denies the Lord Jesus Christ – the God-man

5. denies Jesus Christ as the Redeemer who suffered for us for the sake of men and for our salvation

6. denies Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world

7. denies the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

8. denies seedless conception according to humanity of Christ the Lord and virginity before Christmas Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary

9. denies virginity after the Nativity of the Most Pure Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

10. does not recognize an afterlife

11. does not accept bribes;

12. rejects all the sacraments of the Church and the grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit in them and, swearing at the most sacred objects of faith Orthodox people, did not shudder to mock the greatest of the sacraments, the Holy Eucharist (communion is one of the seven sacraments).

Count Tolstoy preaches all this continuously, in word and in writing, to the temptation and horror of all Orthodox world, and not secretly, but openly in front of everyone, consciously and intentionally rejected himself from all communication with the Orthodox Church. The previous attempts, to his understanding, were not crowned with success. Therefore, the Church does not consider him a member and cannot consider him until he repents and restores his communion with her. Now he testifies to this before the entire Church for the confirmation of those who stand and for the admonition of Count Tolstoy himself. Many of his neighbors who keep the faith think with sorrow that at the end of his days he remains without faith in God and the Lord our Savior, having rejected the blessings and prayers of the Church and from all communication with her.

Therefore, testifying to his falling away from the Church, we pray together that the Lord will give him repentance and the mind of truth. We pray to you, merciful Lord, who does not want the death of sinners, hear and have mercy, and turn him to your holy Church. Amen.

O n g u n d a p p i p a l :

Humble Anthony, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga

Humble Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia

Humble Vladimir, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna

Humble Jerome, Archbishop of Kholm and Warsaw

Humble Jacob, Bishop of Chisinau and Khotyn

Humble Markel, Bishop

Humble Boris, Bishop.”

L.N. Tolstoy denied dogmas 1-5,7-9,12 in total 8 (7) (marked with a + sign), and did not deny a) ,b),6, 8,9 (marked -)

“The resolution of the synod... is illegal or deliberately ambiguous; it is arbitrary, unfounded, untruthful and, in addition, contains slander and incitement to bad feelings and actions.”

The Tolstoy family spent that winter in Moscow, in their house on Khamovnichesky Lane. The news of the excommunication was received along with the next issues of the newspapers. A stream of people immediately rushed into the quiet alley, stacks of letters and telegrams poured out.

This is what Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya wrote in her diary on March 6: “We experienced many events, not domestic, but social. On February 24, the excommunication of Lev Nikolaevich was published in all newspapers... This paper caused indignation in society, bewilderment and discontent among the people. Lev Nikolaevich received standing ovations for three days in a row, they brought baskets of fresh flowers, and sent telegrams, letters, and addresses. These expressions of sympathy for L.N. and indignation at the Synod and the metropolitans continue to this day. I wrote on the same day and sent my letter to Pobedonostsev and the metropolitans... Some kind of festive mood has been going on in our house for several days; there are whole crowds of visitors from morning to evening”...

Thus, the first response to the definition of the synod was an indignant letter from S.A. Tolstoy to Metropolitan Anthony and Pobedonostsev. The latter left the letter unanswered, but Anthony, whose signature under the definition came first, found it difficult to remain silent, especially since, as this will be seen further; Tolstoy’s letter became widely known. Anthony hesitated for more than two weeks, hoping that the definition would find support in society, which would enable the synod, without losing prestige, to get out of the absurd situation in which its blind malice towards the writer had placed it. However, these hopes were not realized. On the contrary, dissatisfaction with the synod in the country increased day by day, as evidenced by the letters it received from representatives different layers Russian society, strongly condemning the excommunication. Something unprecedented happened in the history of the synod.

The first present member of the synod, Metropolitan Anthony, under pressure public opinion was forced to speak on the pages of the official synodal body to explain the actions of the synod and justify the “definition” and, in conclusion, ask Tolstoy’s wife for forgiveness for not immediately answering her.

On March 24, 1901, in the “Addendum to No. 12 of the unofficial part of the Church Gazette,” S. A. Tolstoy’s letter and Anthony’s response to it are given in full.

Renovationists proposed to cancel the anathema of L.N. Tolstoy in 1923.

In February 1901, Leo Tolstoy was loudly excommunicated from the church. Since the second half of the nineteenth century, the Synod made repeated attempts to anathema the writer, but each time this was prevented by the current Emperor Alexander III. But when Tolstoy’s “fall away” did happen, a real scandal erupted around the event.

Faktrum tells why and how the famous writer was excommunicated from the church.

Lev Tolstoy

Daring criticism

For the last 10 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy himself rejected the church. He mercilessly criticized her teachings, comparing them with harmful superstitions, lies and even witchcraft. The writer insisted that all this only distorts true Christian dogmas, and the Orthodox Church itself has long had nothing to do with God. In the 1880s, the so-called “Tolstoyism” even arose - a religious and ethical social movement based on the philosophy of Lev Nikolaevich. And in the writer’s works, thick hints began to appear every now and then, compromising the current church authorities. For example, literary scholars believe that in his novel “Sunday”, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the chief prosecutor, became the prototype of Toporov. In the novel, the hero appears to the readers as a stupid and hypocritical deceiver.

Of course, such a daring comparison, coupled with numerous provocative statements by the count, could not help but provoke response from the clergy. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, the Synod several times put forward a proposal to anathema the writer, but Emperor Alexander III did not want to allow the aura of a martyr to be added to Tolstoy’s wide fame and influence. It was for this reason that he rejected every attempt to declare anathema. Meanwhile, Lev Nikolaevich continued to allow himself “blasphemous” sayings, which terribly unnerved the top of the church.

Unsuccessful attempts

In 1888, Archbishop Nikanor put forward a proposal to declare a “solemn anathema” against Lev Nikolaevich, and just a couple of years later, Kharkov Archpriest Timofey Butkevich came to the emperor with a similar request. In 1891, the Tula bishop ordered the priests to collect documents incriminating the writer in order to provide the sovereign with significant evidence of Tolstoy’s godlessness. However, here too, Alexander III refused the request, fearing a wave of indignation. As a result, the church had to wait until the death of the emperor before resuming discussions about the excommunication of the writer in 1896.

The final "retribution"

The excommunication nevertheless took place - on February 24, 1901, the “Definition of the Holy Synod” was published in the press. According to the document, Tolstoy was finally officially excommunicated. According to some sources, already on the 25th, that is, the very next day, Nicholas II gave Pobedonostsev a severe reprimand. Tolstoy himself learned about this news while reading a newspaper while relaxing in his house in Moscow. And literally on the same day, crowds of people came to him with flowers. For several days they greeted Lev Nikolaevich with thunderous applause.

Later, Sofya Andreevna will write in her diary about what a wonderful festive atmosphere there was that day.

Illustration: Painting by V.G. Perov "Tea Party in Mytishchi" 1862

Almost all Russian people have heard about Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy; there are fewer who have heard about the excommunication of the count, the great Russian writer, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. There are few who will name the date of excommunication - 1901, but it is unlikely that even they will be able to answer the question why Leo Tolstoy was subjected to public condemnation by the clergy and excommunication at the beginning of the last century. Let's try to fill the gap in this issue.
“I know that what I have to say now is exactly what she church faith, which for centuries has been professed by millions of people under the name of Christianity, is nothing more than a very crude Jewish sect, which has nothing in common with true Christianity, will seem to people who verbally profess the teachings of this sect not only incredible, but the height of the most terrible blasphemy.
But I can't help but say this. I cannot help but say this because in order for people to be able to take advantage of the great benefit that the true Christian teaching gives us, we must first of all free ourselves from that incoherent, false and, most importantly, deeply immoral teaching that hid the true Christian teaching from us . This teaching, which hid the teaching of Christ from us, is the teaching of Paul, set forth in his epistles and which became the basis of church teaching. This teaching is not only not the teaching of Christ, but is a teaching directly opposite to it” (L.N. Tolstoy, “Why Christian peoples in general and especially the Russian people are now in distress”).
It’s a strange thing, but for almost a whole century the Krivdoslav Church of Russia and the managerial “elite” were united in their silence and the accusations made by Leo Tolstoy in his response to the Synod on the act of excommunicating him from the church:
“The fact that I renounce the church, which calls itself Orthodox, is absolutely fair... I am convinced that the teachings of the church are theoretically an insidious and harmful lie, practically a collection of the grossest superstitions and witchcraft that hide the whole meaning of Christian teaching. One has only to read the breviary, follow those rituals that are continually performed by the Orthodox clergy and are considered Christian worship, to see that these rituals are nothing more than various techniques of witchcraft, adapted to all possible cases of life.” - quoted from the book. “Speech of Patriarch Alexy II to the rabbis of New York on November 13, 1991 and the heresy of the Judaizers,” “Pallada,” Moscow, from slides from the American edition of 1992, p. 214.
“And therefore, the complete indifference of children to religious issues and the denial of all religious forms without any replacement with any positive religious teaching is still incomparably better than Jewish church education, at least in the most improved forms.” (From a letter from L.N. Tolstoy to teacher A.I. Dvoryansky, December 13, 1899)
P.S. So Perov also had to be excommunicated and the author himself should have been burned along with the painting.

Reviews

However, what in churches the clergy themselves, parishioners and outsiders call Christianity... The Bible is generally a Christian book and the basis of their teaching. So, I believe that Tolstoy is right regarding Christianity in any forms, the most positive for you, Captain: “And therefore the complete indifference of children to religious issues and the denial of all religious forms without any replacement with any positive religious teaching is still incomparable better than Jewish-Church education, at least in its most advanced forms.” You can believe in either Allah or Jesus, but most importantly, don’t meddle with your children with your religious theories; when they grow up, they will figure out on their own how they fit into them different types Christianity or other religions. Although perhaps they will consider atheism and anarchy closest to their soul...

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Leo Tolstoy in last decades rejected Orthodoxy in his life. The so-called Tolstoyism, created by the great Russian writer, criticized Christianity, being a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam and others religious movements. Naturally, Tolstoy's attitude towards official religion leaked into his works: for example, in the novel “Resurrection,” according to literary scholars, the writer in the image of Toporov portrayed the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. In the novel, he described him as a stupid bigot, a liar and a hypocrite. Tolstoy speaks even more openly about the chief prosecutor in his letter to Nicholas II: “Of all these criminal cases, the most disgusting and disturbing to the soul of every honest man, these are the things done by your disgusting, heartless, unscrupulous adviser on religious matters, a villain whose name, as an exemplary villain, will go down in history - Pobedonostsev.”

Chief Prosecutor of the Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev

Obviously, such harsh words were bound to provoke a reaction from the church sooner or later. IN late XIX centuries, proposals to excommunicate Leo Tolstoy from the church poured in one after another, however, according to Emperor Alexander III himself, he did not want to “add a martyr’s crown to Tolstoy’s glory.” At the same time, censors continually found “blasphemy, mockery, mockery and blasphemy of religion” in Tolstoy’s works. In the early 60s, Tolstoy survived a search initiated by the tsarist government, when Yasnaya Polyana was literally turned around by gendarmes. Apparently, most of all the authorities did not want to surround Tolstoy with an aura of suffering, so they never decided to apply extreme measures to him.

There was talk of Tolstoy's excommunication from the church back in 1888, when Archbishop Nikanor in one of his letters asked to proclaim a “solemn anathema” against the writer. A few years later, Kharkov Archpriest Timofey Butkevich publicly addressed the sovereign with the same request.

Yasnaya Polyana - Tolstoy's estate, where searches took place

“The preacher of unbelief and atheism,” as Butkevich called Tolstoy, did not change his views and still sharply criticized Orthodoxy, rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity, church sacraments and the virgin birth. “In order for a child, if he dies, to go to heaven, you need to have time to anoint him with oil and bathe him with the utterance of well-known words, so that there is success in business or a quiet life in a new home, in order for bread to be born well, for the drought to end, in order for the journey was safe, in order to recover from an illness, in order to ease the position of the deceased in the next world, for all this and thousands of other circumstances there are well-known spells that famous place and for certain offerings the priest pronounces,” wrote Leo Tolstoy.

The number of attacks on Tolstoy increased every year; the Synod itself supported those who demanded anathema for the writer. By 1891, several priests, on instructions from the Tula bishop, collected a number of documents incriminating Tolstoy in front of the church. Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya wrote from Moscow to her husband that, according to her information, the Moscow Metropolitan was already preparing to excommunicate him from the church. Chief Prosecutor Pobedonostsev also sided with the accusers, but all the plans of the church elite were dashed by the inflexibility of Emperor Alexander III, who, fearing a wave of indignation, rejected the idea of ​​solemnly anathematizing Tolstoy.

Lev Nikolaevich and Sofya Andreevna

Church representatives had to wait for the death of Alexander III to resume their attacks. Already in 1896, the same Pobedonostsev again started talking about excommunicating the writer from the church. At the same time, a last attempt is being made to return Lev Nikolaevich to the fold of the church: the prison priest Dmitry Troitsky was sent to him in Yasnaya Polyana, conversations with whom, however, did not make an impression on the writer. At the very end of the 19th century, the Kharkov archbishop drew up a draft excommunication; all that remained was to wait for a positive decision from the authorities. The right moment came at the beginning of 1900, when Tolstoy was suffering from a severe illness. Taking advantage of the situation, Metropolitan Ioannikiy sent out a special circular to all dioceses “On the prohibition of commemoration and memorial services for L.N. Tolstoy in the event of his death without repentance.”

Lev Tolstoy

Tolstoy survived this secret attack of the church, having recovered from his illness. The church arsenal was not exhausted here - the next step was a solemn excommunication from the church. The reprisal against the writer took place on February 24, 1901, when the “Definition of the Holy Synod” was published. “In his writings and letters, he preaches with the zeal of a fanatic the overthrow of all the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and the very essence of the Christian faith: he rejects the personal living God in the Glorious Holy Trinity, the Creator and Provider of the universe, denies the Lord Jesus Christ,” the text of the document read. From sources of that time it follows that the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod Pobedonostsev the very next day, February 25, received a reprimand from Emperor Nicholas II.

Leo Tolstoy, who was resting in his Moscow home, learned about his excommunication from the church, like everyone else, from newspapers. By the way, people literally immediately rushed to the house in Khamovnichesky Lane, bringing flowers there and greeting Lev Nikolaevich with applause for several days. In the house, as Sofya Andreevna writes in her diary, “there was a festive mood, there were whole crowds of visitors.”

House of Count Tolstoy in Khamovnichesky Lane

In April 1901, Leo Tolstoy decided to respond to the decision of the Synod and published his response. By the way, the publication, which only a couple of church publications had the right to print, was cut in those places where the writer “offends religious feelings.” The full text of the answer was published abroad, in Russia - only in 1905, with a note that its author was “a heretic and a terrible enemy of Christ.”

“The outrageous blasphemy is that people, using all possible means of deception and hypnotism, assure children and simple-minded people that if you cut in a known way and when you pronounce certain words, pieces of bread and put them in wine, then God enters into these pieces; and that the one in whose name a living piece is taken out will be healthy; In the name of whomever has died such a piece is taken out, it will be better for him in the next world; and that whoever ate this piece, God Himself will enter into him. It’s terrible!” - Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy wrote in his “Response to the Synod”.

As historians and theologians note, the resolution of the Synod was more a statement of a fait accompli - Tolstoy's exit from the Church - rather than his forced exclusion from it. By that time, Lev Nikolaevich had not attended services or participated in the sacraments for many years, and openly called himself an opponent of the Church.

For the first time, he most clearly defined his position regarding the official religion in a letter to Aunt Alexandra Andreevna Tolstoy, with whom he had been in correspondence for many years, on March 4, 1882. There he calls himself not just an opponent of Orthodoxy - he takes on a more global function.

“In relation to Orthodoxy - your faith - I am not in the position of someone who is mistaken or deviating - I am in the position of an accuser.”

In 2010, on the 100th anniversary of the writer’s death, thanks to his famous descendants, the Russian Orthodox Church raised the question of revising the decision of the Synod. However, the Patriarchate replied that this was impossible. The reason for this was the words of Lev Nikolaevich himself, written in his response to the Synod. Since then, nothing has been said from the writer denying this position.

The fact that I renounced the Church, which calls itself Orthodox, is absolutely fair... I reject all the sacraments... I really renounced the Church, stopped performing its rituals and wrote in my will to my loved ones so that when I die they will not allow me to church servants...

Leo Tolstoy, response to the Synod of the Russian Church, 1901

A little Protestantism in Yasnaya Polyana

If we consider the religious views of Lev Nikolaevich, we can conclude that he was not so much an exposer of the Russian Church, but rather close to denying the very basis of Christianity. Thus, if Tolstoy had found himself among conservative Catholics, he would probably have suffered the same fate - excommunication. In Russia, the clergy were probably for Tolstoy the bearers of those views that became alien to him, and therefore irritated him.

What Tolstoy denied

The Divinity of Christ

Resurrection of Christ

Afterlife

Trinity of God

Immaculate Conception of Our Lady

Church sacraments - communion, confession, wedding, etc.

Nevertheless, Tolstoy was never an unbeliever, and in his Confession he writes that he always believed in “something.” Thanks to his reverence for the Bible and Christ as a preacher, most of all his views are similar to the Protestant creeds, of which there are many. All of them originated much like Tolstoy’s: those who did not agree with the line of the church created their own movement.

I can't bring myself to kneel before Jesus Christ

Lev Tolstoy

None of the existing teachings completely satisfied Tolstoy, and in search of an “ideal religion” he created his own circle. He did not have time to develop into a religion, but the “Gospel of Tolstoy” was still created. By the way, among the descendants of Tolstoy, who scattered across different continents, including America and Australia (now there are about a hundred people), the most numerous is the branch professing Protestantism. They live in Sweden. It is also known that it is Protestants who especially revere Tolstoy’s literature as the closest to their ideas.

It all started in "Resurrection"

In a large artistic form Tolstoy's anti-church ideas were reflected in the novel "Resurrection". The writer treated Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the ideologist of the counter-reforms of Alexander III and the chief prosecutor of the Russian Church, with particular contempt. It was he who became the prototype of the antihero Toporov. In his characterization, the writer draws attention to his lack of the main, from the point of view of Tolstoy himself, religious feeling - the consciousness of equality and brotherhood of people.

He treated the religion he supported the way a chicken farmer treats the carrion with which he feeds his chickens: carrion is very unpleasant, but chickens love and eat it, and therefore they must be fed carrion

Leo Tolstoy, "Resurrection"

Spiritual quest

Tolstoy's religious crisis lasted from the late 1870s, when he began to ask intractable questions about the spiritual side of life in conversations and correspondence, and wrote the essay "Confession." From it it becomes clear that doubts visited Tolstoy even in his youth.

From the age of sixteen I stopped going to prayer and, out of my own urge, stopped going to church and fasting. I stopped believing in what I had been told since childhood, but I believed in something. What I believed in, I could never say,” he writes.

At the same time, Lev Nikolaevich began to travel to Optina Pustyn (a monastery in the Kaluga region), where in those years there was a heyday of eldership and where Ambrose Optinsky, the prototype of Elder Zosima in Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” lived. There the writer had long conversations with the hermits about faith and God. But the result of all the searches and disputes was the acceleration of their own anti-church convictions. If the novel "Resurrection" became the literary embodiment of these views that Tolstoy came to, then "Research" became the scientific dogmatic theology", which was published in 1891 in Geneva.

Was there repentance?

It says a lot that the first point of Tolstoy’s wanderings after he left home in November 1910 was Optina Pustyn. According to the recollections of the doctor Makovitsky who accompanied him, Tolstoy even wanted to stay and live there.

Lev Nikolaevich wanted to see the elder hermits, [...] talk with them about God, about the soul, about hermitage and see their life and find out the conditions under which one can live at the monastery, he recalls.

According to Makovitsky, the writer approached the gates of the monastery twice, but never decided to enter it. From there he went to another monastery - Shamordinsky, and soon, at the Astapovo station, he became ill. Hegumen Optina Vorsanofiy, who learned about this, went to him and took with him all the necessary church attributes in order to accept his repentance (according to the instructions, he only expected from him the word “I repent”) and give him communion before his death.

It is not known for certain whether Tolstoy himself wanted to reconcile with the Church before his death, but technically this did not happen according to his plan. The elder was never allowed to see the writer, since he clearly stated this in his pre-prepared will.