Page:The Relations Tolstoy.pdf/40

 to overeat produces himself a disease of the digestive organs, or in order not to fight, ties him own arms, or in order not to use abusive language cuts out his tongue. God has created man as he is, has breathed the divine spirit into his carnal body in order that this spirit shall subordinate the bodily lusts (the whole of human life consists in this) but not that he shall cripple his body to correct God's work. If people are attracted towards sexual relations, it is to render possible to another generation that perfection which the present has not attained. How wonderful is the wisdom of God in relation to this! Man is destined for perfection: "Be ye perfect as your father in heaven is perfect." A sure sign of perfection is chastity, -true chastity, not only in act, but also in the soul, that is to say, complete liberation from sexual lust. If men were to attain perfection and become chaste the human race would cease and there would be no object for its life on earth, because men would have become like angels, who do not marry, as the Gospels say. But while men have not attained perfection they produce new generations and these new generations complete themselves and attain what God has commanded, and keep approaching nearer and nearer perfection. Whereas if men were to act as the Skoptsi do, then the human race would cease without attaining perfection, and without fulfilling the will of God. This is one reason why I regard the conduct of the Skoptsi as incorrect; another is that the Gospel teaching produces welfare (Christ says "My yoke is easy and my burden is light"), and forbids all violence to men; and therefore inflicting wounds and suffering, even if it be not to others (which is an evident sin) but to oneself, is a transgression of the Christian law. The third reason is that the Skoptsi obviously interpret the 12th verse of the 19th of Matthew incorrectly. The whole utterance from