[2] The Gospel in Brief is said to be the result of Tolstoy's close study of the original Koine Greek New Testament.

[3] The account presented in Tolstoy's gospel is also notable in its sharp contrast with the contemporaneous views of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tolstoy was a fierce critic of the Russian Orthodox Church, which went so far as to excommunicate him for his writings on Christianity in 1901.

Concerned that the complexity of this volume would alienate it from laypeople, Tolstoy collected just the introductions and summaries of the 12 chapters of A Translation Harmony.

"[8]Some modern scholars even hypothesize that the 12-part organization of The Gospel in Brief influenced the numbering layout of Wittgenstein's landmark philosophical work, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.