"The Gospel in Brief "is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical Gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus. Inspired in large measure by Tolstoy's meticulous study of the original Greek versions of the Bible, "The Gospel in Brief" is a highly original fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own influential religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a solution to 'the problem of life', not an answer to theological or historical questions. As a result, he sets aside such issues as Jesus' genealogy and divinity, or whether Jesus in fact walked on water.Instead, he focuses on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what Tolstoy regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual. The result is a work that emphasizes the individual's spiritual condition in a chaotic and indifferent world. Like Tolstoy's celebrated literary achievements, "The Gospel in Brief" has the distinct bearing of a classic: in its urgency and directness it is remarkably current, as if it were written only yesterday rather than a century ago. Isabel Hapgood (1850-1928), author of "A Survey of Russian Literature", also translated works by Gogol, Turgenev, and Gorky. Her translation of this classic work has been edited and introduced by F. A. Flowers III, an appellate lawyer from Birmingham, Alabama.

托爾斯泰（Lev N. Tolstoj）

1828年生於俄國一個擁有極大權勢的貴族家庭中，早年接受家庭教師的教導，並接受基督教信仰。1852年加入俄國軍隊，在克里米亞戰爭中有英勇的表現。1862年結婚，在接下來的15年間，他一面管理龐大家產，一面執筆寫出偉大作品，其中包 括最為人所熟知的《戰爭與和平》（War and Peace）和《安娜‧卡列妮娜》（Anna Karenina）。

1879年時，托爾斯泰突然陷入心靈上的極度空虛，從那時起一直到1910年去世的這段期間，他將其卓越的文學天賦用於宗教與道德主題的寫作上，著作包括《我的懺悔》（My Confession）、《我的信仰》（My Religion）和《神的王國在你心中》（The Kingdom of God Is Within You）等書。他的宗教著作吸引了相當多的追隨者，但也引起相當猛烈的抨擊。

托爾斯泰對《聖經》中四部福音書的研讀與整理從1880年開始，然而，終其一生這本《福音書》卻無法在俄國出版。托爾斯泰一生不斷反抗教會的權威，他認為十九世紀下半葉的俄國教會，其黑暗與邪惡就和耶穌當年抗爭的對象一樣。由於對教會與政府的不斷挑釁，他在1901年終被逐出教會。

譯者簡介

白若雪 　東吳大學英文系、美國加州蒙特瑞國際研究院中文翻譯研究所（Monterey Institute of International Studies）畢業，現擔任有線電視公司國外節目編審及翻譯，譯著以基督教文學及宗教書刊為主。