The Remorseful Sinner- Leo Tolstoy

About the Text

Leo Tolstoy's short stories often deal with his moral and spiritual teachings. Moreover, they are reflections of his spiritual yearnings and religious inquiries. Likewise, this short spiritual tale exemplifies the archaic theme of 'sin, suffering, and redemption. It assumes the form of a parable to explain Biblical preaching. Here, a person leads a life of sin and debauchery for full seventy years without ever letting remorse enter his soul for his deeds. Finally, when he falls critically ill, he repents for his sins and turns to God seeking pardon. Perceiving God as merciful and forgiving, Tolstoy's protagonist argues for his entry into Heaven. Tolstoy skilfully weaves together the Biblical stories to put forward his ideas on religion. Through his protagonist, Tolstoy argues that if the nature of God is merciful and loving, how can He turn away from heaven a fallible human being who is purged of his sins through remorse?

Full Explenetion about The Remorseful Sinner

About the Author :

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian short story writer, playwright, philosopher, educationist, and one of the greatest novelists in the world. He picks fresh pictures of nature, breathing with life, and depicts the characters taken straight from reality. No other writer, living or dead, excels him deeply probing human consciousness for its overt and covert motives. His great observational powers find their reflection in his surprisingly accurate descriptions of the minute details of everyday life. His works are viewed as the living symbol of the quest for life's meaning. He is often described as the master of realistic fiction for his highly appreciated works War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). Equally cherished are his works of shorter fiction like The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Hadji Murad and How Much Land Does a Man Need? He exerted a great influence through his philosophical writings upon the great leaders of the twentieth century like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Summary

"The Remorseful Sinner" is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy. His stories often deal with his moral and spiritual teachings. It assumes the form of a parable to explain Biblical preaching. Here, a person leads a life of Sin and debauchery for full seventy years. Without ever letting remorse enter his Soul for his deeds. Finally, when he falls critically ill, he repents for his sins and turns to God seeking pardon. Perceiving God as merciful and forgiving, Tolstoy's protagonist argues for his entry into Heaven, Tolstoy skillfully weaves together the Biblical stories to put forward his ideas on religion, Through his pro antagonist, Tolstoy argues that, if the nature of God is merciful and loving, how can He turn away from heaven a fallible human being who is purged of his sins through remorse?

The present story runs on a parallel theme of sin, suffering by remorse, and a final redemption by the merciful God. By quoting The Gospels of luke, Tolstoy underlines the holiness of his argument that every sinner, If remorseful has at least an opportunity, If not the right, to be pardoned for his sins. The sinner in the story lives for seventy years of his life without ever bothering about the ethics and morality of his deeds. In the gradual course of time, he falls ill and lies dying. In those last thoughts, he remembers all of his sins and his grievous moral errors. The guilt of his Shameful misdeeds overwhelms him. A great sense of sorrow for his life of sin dawned upon him, leaving his soul bare to God. With humility, he begs God that his sins be forgiven. Equating himself with the thief from the Gospels, he appeals for forgiveness for his sins. Suddenly, the Soul of the sinner is directly transported to the gates of heaven. He requests that his Soul be allowed into Heaven. But the doors were locked. The man knocked and prayed to be let in. A voice called out asking who knocks and what deeds did he do during his life. The Sinner recounted all the sins he did in his life and committed them before him. Then the voice announced, "Sinners Cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, go!"

The man (Sinner) asked the name of the unseen speaker and the voice answered "I Peter the Apostle".The Sinner listens to the voice of the Accuser Charging him for not doing a single good deed in his entire life. He listens to the stern voice of Peter, the first Apostle of Jesus Christ denying him entry into Heaven. Though disheartened, he sets forth the reasons for his petition. The sinner reminds peter of his own wrongdoings even though he had listened to the teachings of Jesus Christ from his own lips. The Sinner argues that if peter the Apostle, has committed errors, then he too is frail. He mentions an incident where Peter failed Jesus Christ. Peter was asked by Jesus Christ to stay awake and pray at night but he could not stay awake. Thus he could not keep his word. He also reminds peter of one more instance that occurred during the trial of Jesus Christ by Caiaphas, the Jewish High priest. When Jesus Christ was invited by the High priest to the temple for his trials, Peter followed him in the darkness. Peter was asked by the soldiers sitting by the fire in the courtyard of the temple if he too was with Jesus Christ. Fearful of the punishment; peter had thrice denied ever knowing Jesus. Peter too had wept in guilt for betraying Jesus Christ. Even after failing and betraying Jesus Christ, Peter was pardoned for his sins. If Peter can have an entry into Heaven despite disappointing Jesus Christ, then, the sinner questions, why should he deny it? Now Peter, the first Apostle, has no reason to deny his appeal, But there was no answer and the door to Heaven did not open.

The voice fell silent and the man again knocked on the door of Heaven to let him in. This time also the same thing happened. A voice asked for an account of his life and the devil was only too happy to oblige, recounting all the man's sins and not a single good deed. This time the voice behind the gate was revealed to be "David, King of Israel and Judah". Again David, the king of the united monarchy of Israel and Judah, objects to his entry into Heaven. The petitioner begs for pity from king David. After rejection from him, he reminds king David how he too had once fallen from the grace of God for Seducing Bathsheba, the wife of a poor soldier. Her husband Uriah, the Hittite, served in the army of King David. Bathsheba had conceived a child from king David upon knowing this, king David plotted to get her husband killed in the battle for Jerusalem by the enemies' swords--the Ammonites. The Petitioner reasons, that if his sins can be pardoned by God then why not his? David is silent. But the door to Heaven does not open.

The sinner knocks again and another apostle, John the Evangelist, comes to the door and rejects his plea for entry into Heaven. The Sinner persists. He begs for entry saying that both Peter and King David know man's weaknesses therefore, they had no objection to his entry into Heaven. John the Evangelist likewise should place no obstacle as he preaches love. John's teaching asks all god-fearing men to love each other. Then john, the sinner says, should embrace him rather than drive him away with hatred. Hearing this, John the evangelist gives him entry into the kingdom of Heaven.

Then the sinner, the main character in the story argues with the apostles and questions their judgment like a lawyer, he puts forward logical arguments to weigh his claims. It is notable that in this story the Apostles err in their Judgement and the repentant sinner wins the grace of God through his arguments. This short parable comes to the moral conclusion that love and grace are the true emblems of religion. Mercy far exceeds anger in the heart of God. Tolstoy brings out the notion of God's love and that true sorrow for Sins committed is worthy of the grace of God. He reminds the reader that 'God is Love and that anyone who doesn't love doesn't know God. Tolstoy preaches mercy over anger and love over hatred.

Write Short Answer type Questions

Describe the Character of the Sinner.

Ans:

"The Remorseful Sinner" is a beautiful thought-provoking short story written by Leo Tolstoy, who was a great Russian Novelist and philosopher, thinker, and moralist."

The Remorseful Sinner' is a Biblical short story with an esoteric and Christian moral theme. The verse mentioned at the beginning of the short story is taken from the Holy Bible from the Gospel of the evangelist st. Luke The Verse talks about the remorseful sinner who was Crucified on a cross along with the Lord Jesus. As the story from the Gospels state, there were two people crucified beside Jesus Christ for their crimes. They were the criminals bearing the charges of murder and theft. One of them rebukes the soldiers making fun of Jesus and warns them of the Consequences of punishing an innocent man like Jesus. In repentance, he begs the pardon of Jesus Christ for his own crimes before being crucified. The dialogue reported in the story takes place between the thief and Jesus Christ. The remorseful Sinner, the thief, is assured by Jesus Christ that, as he has repented and begged pardon for his sins, he will surely get entry into the kingdom of Heaven.

The Bible proclaims "God is Love" which is a miraculous experience for every Sinner because God knows the weakness of human beings. Once there was a man who lived for seventy years in sin and fell ill but even then he did not repent. But when he was dying, he wept and repented and prayed to God to forgive him as he had forgiven the thief upon the cross.

The Soul of the Sinner believed in the mercy of God and went to the gates of Heaven and knocked. The voice of st peter told him that sinners were not allowed in Heaven. Then the soul of the repented Sinner told st. Peter peter had the great fortune to hear the Bible teachings from the holy lips of Jesus christ loved peter and raised him to the status of the leader of the twelve disciples and peter witnessed the miracles of Jesus. The Sinner begs to be let in, but, peter the Apostle explains that such a sinner can not be allowed in. The Sinner

points out that for all of peter's virtue, he still Sinned by denying christ. He is still not let in. The Sinner continues his knocking and is again met by his list of sins by the Accuser. Now king David explains that such a Sinner cannot be allowed in. The Sinner points out that for all of David's virtue, he still sinned by committing adultery. He is still not let in.

The sinner continues his knocking, and now is spoken to by John, the Apostle, The Sinner pleads with John, saying that all of the people should understand repentance. The repentant sinner is then finally allowed into Heaven.

Which fallibilities of peter, the apostle are mentioned in the short story?

Ans:

"The Remorseful Sinner" is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy. His Stories often deal with his moral and spiritual teachings. It assumes the form of a Parable to explain Biblical Preaching. The present story runs on a parallel theme of Sin, suffering by remorse, and a final redemption by the merciful God. By quoting The Gospels of Luke. Tolstoy underlines the holiness of his argument that every sinner, if remorseful, has at least one opportunity, if not the right, to be pardoned for his sins. The Sinner in the story lives for seventy years of his life without ever bothering about the ethics and morality of his deeds. In the gradual course of time, he falls ill and lies dying.

In those last thoughts, he remembers all of his sins and his grievous moral errors. The guilt of his shameful misdeeds overwhelms him. A great sense of sorrow for his life of sin down upon him, leaving his soul bare to God. With humility, he begs God that his sins be forgiven. Equating himself with the thief from the Gospels, he appeals for forgiveness for his sins. Suddenly, the soul of the sinner is directly transported to the gates of heaven. He requests that his soul be allowed into Heaven. But the doors were locked. The man knocked and prayed to be let in. The voice called out asking who knocks and what deeds did he do during his life. The sinner recounted all the sins he did in his life and committed them before him. Then the voice announced that sinners can not enter in t kingdom of Heaven, go!" The Sinner asked the name of the unseen speaker and the voice

answered that he was peter, the Apostle. The sinner reminds peter of his own wrongdoings even though he had listened to the teachings of Jesus Christ From his own lips. The sinner argues that if peter. the Apostle has committed errors, then he too is frail He mentions an incident where Peter failed Jesus Christ, Peter was asked by Jesus Christ to stay awake and pray at night but he could not stay awake. Thus, he could not keep his word. He also reminds peter of one more instance that occurred during the trial of Jesus Christ by Caiaphas, the Jewish High priest. When Jesus Christ was invited by the high priest to the temple for his test, peter followed him in the darkness. Peter was asked by the soldiers sitting by the fire in the courtyard of the temple if he too was with Jesus Christ. He feared the punishment so he three times denied even knowing Jesus. Peter wept in guilt for betraying Jesus Christ. Even after failing and betraying Jesus christ peter was pardoned for his sins and had entry into heaven.

Why did King David fall from the grace of God?

Ans:

"The Remorseful Sinner" is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy. His stories often deal with his moral and spiritual teachings. The present story runs on a parallel theme of sin, suffering by remorse, and a final redemption by the merciful God. Tolstoy underlines the holiness of his argument that every sinner, if remorseful has at least an opportunity, to be pardoned for his sins. The sinner in the story lives for seventy years of his life without ever bothering about the ethics and morality of his deeds. In the gradual course of time, he falls ill and lies dying. In those last thoughts, he remembers all of his sins and his grievous moral errors. He becomes very guilty for his sins in his life and leaving his soul bare to God. With humility, he begs God that his sins be forgiven. Suddenly, his soul is directly transported to the gates of heaven. He requests that his soul be allowed into Heaven. But the doors were locked. The Sinner knocked and prayed to be let in. But the voice asked him who knocks and what deeds did he do during his life. The Sinner recounted all the Sins he did in his life and committed them before him. Then the voice announced." Sinners cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven, go!". The Sinner asked the name of the unseen speaker and the voice

answered," I am Peter the Apostle", The man reminded Peter of the Apostle's own human weakness. He reminds Peter of his own wrongdoings. He reminds him how he promised to be faithful with Jesus Christ unto death, and yet three times he denied to the soldiers of Caiaphas, the Jewish High priest that he never knew Jesus due to the fear of punishment. But even after failing and betraying Jesus christ, peter was pardoned for his sins. Then the sinner questions, Why should he be denied? The voice fell silent and the man knocked again. The same thing happened. A voice asked for an account of his life and the devil was only to deny him, recounting all the man's sins and not a single good deed. This time the voice behind the gate was revealed to be "David, the king of Israel and Judah".

The sinner reminded David of his own need for god's mercy. He reminds King David how he too had once fallen from the grace of God for seducing Bathsheba, the wife of a poor soldier. Her husband Uriah, the Hittite, served in the army of King David. Bathsheba had conceived a child from King David. Upon knowing this, king David plotted to get her husband killed in the battle for Jerusalem by the swords of the enemies-the Ammonites. The Sinner then asked, that if his sins can be pardoned by God then why not his? David is silent. In this way, King David also falls from the grace of God but he is too pardoned by God.

Write on the teachings of John, The Apostle?

Ans:

John, the Apostle is one of the most important Characters in the Bible Besides, the 'Apostle John' is also known as "John the beloved", John the Evangelist ", and" John the Elder" He is the person who was closest to Jesus during his earthly ministry. John along with Peter and James formed Jesus' inner circle. He was also one of the original twelve apostles. John was one of Christianity's founding fathers, as well as a prominent leader of the churches in Jerusalem and Ephesus. John is known as the "Apostle of Love." He really loved the Church and always encouraged the brethren to love each other. He also really thrived on being around Jesus. He was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus, he overheard John the Baptist talking above Jesus and he went after him. John was brave enough to stand at the foot of the cross; while all the other apostles were still in hiding. John the Apostle teaches the men to love each other. He teaches that forgive others who have wronged you. Ask God to forgive your sins. God will forgive you because God is ever kind, forgiving, and merciful. Repen tance of sins is essential. Love and grace are the true emblems of religion. Mercy far exceeds anger in the heart of God.

Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

Explain in detail the arguments of the sinner for his entry into heaven.

Ans:

"The Repentant Sinner is a beautiful, thought-provoking short story written by Leo Tolstoy, who was a great Russian novelist and philosopher, thinker, and moralist. This story is based on the 42, 43 lines of the 23rd Chapter of St. Luke's Gospel in the Bible.

When Jesus Christ was nailed on the cross between two thieves on the Golgotha mount, one of the thieves repented and, recognizing Jesus as the son of God, prayed to Him that he might also be remembered when Christ reached the Heavenly Kingdom. This part of the Bible teaches everyone about the infinite love of God even to the repented sinners of the world at the last minute.

The Bible proclaims 'God is love' which is a miraculous experience for every sinner because God knows the weakness of human beings. Once there was a man who lived for seventy years in sin and fell ill but even then he did not repent. But when he was dying. he wept and repented and prayed to God to forgive him as He had forgiven the thief upon the cross. The sinner's soul believing in God's mercy went to the gates of heaven and knocked. The voice of St. Peter told him that sinners were not allowed in Heaven. Then the soul of the repented sinner told St. Peter that Peter had the great fortune to hear the Bible teachings from the holy lips of Jesus Christ and Christ loved Peter and raised him to the status of the leader of the twelve disciples and Peter witnessed the miracles of Jesus.

Yet, Peter betrayed Jesus on many several occasions. When Jesus and his disciples were praying to God at the Getsamene garden, Christ saw Peter sleeping despite repeated requests for Christ to pray with him. Thus Apostle Peter disobeyed his master three times. Still, Christ forgave Peter for his human weakness. Again when Jesus was arrested and taken to the High Priest for trial, Peter denied publicly three times that he did not know Jesus. When Christ was nailed to the cross, Peter and other disciples ran away in fear and took shelter in a safe place and thus Peter abandoned his loving master for his own safety.

Despite a life-long companionship and teaching from Christ, Peter the Apostle could not reform himself. Then it is natural the repented sinner could not do any good deed while he was on the earth. But these arguments and requests of the repented sinner did not make any impression upon the saint and the gate of heaven was not opened to him and the voice of Peter was silent.

But the spirit of the repented sinner continued to knock on the gate and this time the voice of King David to get out because sinners were not allowed in Heaven. The spirit of the repented sinner said that the King of Israel committed many several sins.

David was loved by God and made the dwarfish, an illiterate shepherd was raised to the highest rank in Israel by crowning him as the country's king. God blessed him in innumerable ways and was given wealth, beautiful wives, and children. Yet he coveted Uriave's beautiful young wife Bethsheba. Drive was David's trusted soldier and was willing to die for his beloved King David. But ungrateful David treacherously killed the brave soldier and possessed his wife. He sent Uriave to the battle and arrangements were made in secret to kill him in the battle. Then David made Bethsheba his wife.

Yet Heavenly Father forgave David's crimes when he repented and allowed him a place in Heaven. When the repented sinner's spirit explained how God's mercy helped David and requested him to allow the spirit to enter the Heavenly kingdom, the voice of David was silent.

But the repented sinner was not disappointed and began to knock on the door a third time. This time it was the voice of John the Evangelist and the sinner was very glad. The sinner knew well that John the Evangelist was the most beloved disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the only gospel where the reader can find the wonderful sentence "God is love". Therefore the repented sinner requested St. John to let him enter the kingdom of Heaven because John alone enjoyed the depth of God's love. The sinner knows that John's teaching asks all god-fearing men to love each other. He should embrace him rather than drive him away with hatred. Hearing this, John the Evangelist gives him entry into the kingdom of heaven. At once the gate of Heaven was opened and the repented spirit entered the kingdom of heaven.

In this way, the story, "The remorseful sinner" preaches that love and grace are the true emblems of religion. He reminds the reader that" God is Love, and that anyone who doesn't love, doesn't know God".

How does Tolstoy bring forth the image of God as merciful and loving?

Ans:

When Jesus Christ was nailed on the cross between two thieves on the Golgotha mount, One of the thieves repented and recognized Jesus as the Son of God, Prayed to Him that he might also be remembered when christ reached the Heavenly Kingdom At once Christ replied that he would be with Jesus in paradise that day itself. This part of the Bible teaches everyone about the infinite love of God even to the repented sinners of the world at the last minute.

The Bible Proclaims "God is Love" which is a miraculous experience for every sinner because God Knows the weakness of human beings. Once there was a man who lived for seventy years of his life without ever bothering about his misdeeds. In the gradual course of time, he falls ill and lies dying. In those last thoughts, he remembers all of his sins and his grievous moral errors. The guilt of his shameful misdeeds overwhelms him. A great sense of sorrow for his life of sin dawned upon him, leaving his Soul bare to God. With humility, he begs God that his sins be forgiven. Equating himself with the thief from the Gospels, he appeals for forgiveness for his sins. Suddenly the soul of the Sinner is directly transported to the gates of heaven. He requests that his Soul be allowed into Heaven. But the doors were locked. The man knocked and prayed to be let in.

The Soul of the Sinner believed in the Mercy of God and went to the gates of heaven and knocked. He truly believed in God and his mercy. Suddenly, a voice comes from behind the door, and later on, all his sins are enumerated. When it is found that he never did a good thing in his lifetime: the voice from behind the door says that sinners like him cannot be allowed in Heaven. The thief asks for the name of the speaker behind the door. The voice replies that it's Peter, The apostle. The thief then asks peter to remember the Human weakness and the mercy of God. Later on, he makes the apostle recall his human life and his deeds by saying that When Jesus asked him to stay awake and pray: he didn't do it because he was sleepy that night This way he disobeyed the lord! Again, when Jesus was taken to Caiaphas; Peter denied the Lord three times and when he realized that he had denied the Lord, he wept. After hearing all this, the voice from behind the door gets silent.

After a while, he once again knocked on the door and this time king David spoke from behind the door and rejected him due to his sin in his life. Then the sinner makes him remember his sin, how sin entered the king's mind when he saw poor Uriah's wife and how he took his wife and killed the poor man with the sword of the Ammonites. The sinner further says that he also did similar Sins and also repented like the king did! Therefore, he should be allowed in Heaven! Again the voice from behind the door gets silent. He again knocks on the door of heaven. Now he hears the voice of st. John the Evangelist is speaking from behind the door. After knowing that, he gets very delighted because he knew that both Peter and king David will let him in because they know the human weakness and the mercy of God. And St. John will also allow him in because he has a lot of love for him. The Sinner knows that st. John the Evangelist wrote in his book, "God is love, and that anyone who doesn't love, doesn't know God, "He gives the message to people to love one another. Therefore he cannot hate him and send him away. And finally, the gates of heaven open and the sinner enters into the kingdom of heaven.