New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-01
TOISTOI AND THE GOSPELS.
lie REPUDIATEs THEIR AUTHORITY AS
RECORDS OF THE LIFE OF JESUS.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH. THE RESURRECTION AND
THE MIRACLES CONSIDERED NO ESSENTIAL
FART OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
HIS CONTENTIOUS ESTIMATE
OF ST. PAUL
"A few wears ago Count TolstoY prepared an
.,eborate translation Of the four Gospels, and ac-
COMMANDED his version with exhaustive COM
o,tarv and notes This work. for obvious rea-
,ors was not allowed" by the censor.
and II became. accordingly. necessary to print
the version IN Geneva The translation was
eagerly read by Russians living outside OF
the Cars domain. and even by con-
siderable number across the frontier whose
thirst for knowledge led them to risk the danger
of imprisonment for the good Of their souls. But
gratifying as the knowledge Of these facts must
have been to Count TolstoY. he was not con-
tented. and accordingly. has prepared an
abridged version Of his translation. which Is suf-
Aciently modified to escape the censor's prohibi-
,,on Count TolstoI introduces this abridged ver-
sion OF the four Gospels in preface which, FOR
both the power and originality OF It's thought.
and the fearlessness Ct its utterapccs. must take
rank among his most important religious WORKS.
A translation Of this preface is now submitted
Fort he first time 10 American TeduSTSJ
=, large work which ! have completely fin
,s,ed hut which l cannot think Of printing in
pussIa have attempted to translate and explain
thu Four Gospels verse by verse. and without
,,t+inp a single line. An abrGment of this
translaton Is what l now wish 10 present to Rus
sian readers and wish to warn them at the out
co, that In this abridgment / have expressly
omitted all passages relating to the following
oonts: The conception OF Christ. the birth OF John
the Baptist his Imprisonment and execution; the
birth Of Christ. his geneaology. the flight Into
Ervpt the miracles Of Cana and Capernaum. the
casting out Of devils. the walking on the water.
.bs cursing Of the fig tree. the healing OF the SICK
the resurrection, and. finally. all illusions in the
prophets which Christs life realized.
IMMATERIAL PASSAGES OMITTED
have omitted all these passage. because they
contain nothing material to the Christian doctrine.
hut relate 10 events which occurred before dur
inr or after the period OF the teaching OF Jesus
They thus give help in determining the CHRIS
tian doctrire. On the contrary II may be said
that they even make It more perplexing and diff
cult They have value for the man who has
not already been convinced by the miraculous his
tories who has not already found in the doctrines
a, Jesus themselves a sufficient proof OF His
divinity.
In nv large work I pointed out all the passages
IN which my Interpretation differed from the ord-
nary explanations. all the commentaries which
added 10 TIE text all the words which omitted
All this I explained also how was impeEed
thereto by a comparison OF the different versions
OF the Gospels. by the analysis OF contexts. and
finally by considerations pathological and other
wise But in my abridged translation ! have re-
Trained from furnishing these reasons In accord
ance with the following principle; That the ex-
plantations appended TO this passage or that are
very long. and further. that they do not supply
,ial to OF cOncep
ton Of the true meaning OF the Christian doctrine
Rather the business OF such conception Is proved
by it's unity rs clearness, its simplicity. It's full
ness as also by It's accord with the personal feel
ing OF all those who seek after truth Speaking
generally and in view OF the divergence OF certain
passages in my translation from the official text
OF the Church. the reader should not forget that 1t
is at once a gross error and a gross falsehood TO
represent the four Gospels Is often done as being
in every verse and In every word sacred books
sacred &c the poin, where nothing must be changed
The reader must not forget that Jesus himself
never wrote book. as did Plato. and Philo. and
Marcus Aurelius: that He did not Ike Socrates
TRANSMIT. His doctrine to men instructed In the
literary He offered II only to the ignorant and
rough men He met on the roadside during
His life and 1t only some time after His
death (about one hundred years. that these men
realized the Importance Of His words and had the
idea Of setting them down in an orderly manner in
writing. The reader must not forget that many
such records written. OF which many were
lost and many were false; that in the beginning
the Christians made Of all these In the course
OF time they selected only those which appeared
TO be the best and most reasonable. and then. ac-
cording TO Russian provcr5 that there is no
club without its knots the churches. when they
chose the bes; Of the Gospels from the enormous
mass Of the early Christian literature, were forced
10 take a great many knots in the bargain. And
the reader must not forget that the canonica Cos
were rejected apocryphal. and that the apoc-
ryphal Gospels contain almost equal number
Of excellen; passages
NO SACREDNESS IN MERE WORDS
The reader must not forget that Il is the doctrine
Of Christ that is sacred. and a certain quantity
OF and words. and that the fact of certain
books being sacred is not OF itself sufficient 10
render every line in these books sacred. In the
civilized world to-day there is no people except our
Russian people. who. thanks to the censor.
able 10 ignore the labors Of historical criticism
during the last century. and retain the ingenu-
Gus belief that the Gospels OF Matthew. Mark and
Luke were written exactly as they are. each one
separately and entirely by the author 10 whom
they are attributed The reader must forget
that such opinion is based ignorance OF
all the labors OF science. and possesses to-day
about the value that the opinion held in the
last century possessed. according to which the
revolved about the earth The reader must not
forget that the synoptic Gospels In their present
form the fruits OF a long evolution. Of an in
definite series Of additions and omissions; that they
are the product Of the imagination OF millions Of
different men. and not at all the product Of the
Holy Spirit which might have spoken by the
the voices OF the evangelists. The reader must
not forget that the Gospels in their present form
are in no wise the testimony OF the Apostles and
the immediate disciples OF Jesus; that such
assertion is a fiction which will not only rot stand
against criticism mi Is based unless N
the desire OF pious souls that II might be
During the centuries the Gospels have been col
lected. purged. enlarged. explained. The most
ancient manuscripts that we have date from the
fourth century. written without spaces between
the words and without punctua ton. in such a way.
Indeed. that directly after the fourth and