Leo Tolstoy Archive
Written: 1908
Source: From RevoltLib.com
Transcription/Markup: Andy Carloff
Online Source: RevoltLib.com; 2021
And Jesus' teaching was spreading further and further. And Pharisees got angrier and angrier at him. They told people: “Don't listen to him. He deceives you. If all will live by his commandments, there will be more evil than it is now.” Jesus heard that and said to them: “You're saying that if I teach people not to seek wealth but to be poor, not to get angry, not to repay an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but to endure everything and love everybody, that I drive evil by evil, and that if people would follow my teaching then their life will be worse than before. You’re saying that in place of previous evil there will be new evil. But this is not true. I do not replace one evil with another, instead, it is you who exile evil with evil. You exile evil by threats, vows, killings, but evil is still not destroyed. And it cannot be destroyed, because no force can destroy itself. But I exile evil not with what you do. I exile evil with good. I exile evil by persuading people to follow those commandments that will save them from any evil. (Matthew 12, 24-28)
Questions:
1) What did the Pharisees talk about Jesus' teaching?
2) What did Jesus tell them about their teaching?
3) What did Jesus say about his teaching?