Tolstoy on Faith

Whatever the faith may be, and whatever answers it may give, and to whomsoever it gives them, every such answer gives to the finite existence of man an infinite meaning, a meaning not destroyed by sufferings, deprivations, or death. This means that only in faith can we find for life a meaning and a possibility. What, then, is this faith? And I understood that faith is not merely "the evidence of things not seen", etc., and is not a revelation (that defines only one of the indications of faith, is not the relation of man to God (one has first to define faith and then God, and not define faith through God); it not only agreement with what has been told one (as faith is most usually supposed to be), but faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life in consequence of which man does not destroy himself but lives. Faith is the strength of life. If a man lives he believes in something. If he did not believe that one must live for something, he would not live. If he does not see and recognize the illusory nature of the finite, he believes in the finite; if he understands the illusory nature of the finite, he must believe in the infinite. Without faith he cannot live.
- Leo Tolstoy A Confession

This is a really important observation. I think it is one the Bible gives in Ecclesiastes (quoted at length by Tolstoy in this book). A faith in that which is finite (e.g. career, personal identity, human goodness, football teams [in my case], the mind, one's own perceived goodness) is ultimately misplaced without the infinite. The infinite is what gives purpose to the finite. Without the infinite, there is no rhyme or reason to put effort into anything. It will ultimately die. Ecclesiates shows us the futility of the finite and that is the conclusion of great thinkers like Tolstoy and others as well.

Maybe that which is called "sin" is placing one's faith in that which is finite. Think about the sin of Adam and Eve. They wished to know good and evil like God. They wanted to be gods. Therefore sin is self-assertion, of course. They never could be and we never can be. But, ultimately, it is the worhip of that which will cease to exist. Think about how Satan tempted Jesus in the desert. He offered Him temporal kingdoms and sustinence. All of that was finite and could never last. Maybe calling the worship of the finite "sin" is actually a very kind move by God to take our focus away from that which will perish. All of things like personal identity (i.e. self-assertion) has no use in the finite because, one day, a meteor will crash into Earth and all will be obliterated. What good is one's identity then? What good is being an Alabamian, Scots-Irish, black, gay, straight, American, Hispanic, successful, orthodox, Protestant, Catholic, the most admired investment banker in Manhattan, brilliant, President, congressman, or athletic then?
- DOB