I'm not really sure what I think about Tolstoy. Perhaps a good way to approach him is to consider his post-"Anna" writings as fundamentally different from his other work (philosophers do this with Ludwig Wittgenstein, I'm told; apparently he had a giant shift in his thinking mid-career). He is a good / tragic example of what happens when an artist starts believing their own hype - "I, the great Tolstoy, can certainly improve upon the gospel narrative."

>"Working to create the kingdom of God should serve the people of this world, not glorify God." That sounds halfway towards Dostoevsky's Grand inquisitor - another example of what happens when ostensibly-well-meaning Christians decide to take the whole gospel project and do it up their way instead of following the instruction manual.