Challenging Christianity: Leo Tolstoy and religious education

Abstract

The religious thought of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy is a well documented but often overlooked example of unorthodox Christianity. This paper uses the example of Tolstoy’s religious thinking to question the integrity of the current representation of Christianity in UK schools. It also uses Tolstoy’s criticism of orthodox Christianity to suggest a possible consequence of the existing depiction of Christianity on students’ understanding and attitudes.