In 1892, Tolstoy published A Translation Harmony and Analysis of the Gospels. Concerned that the complexity of this work would keep it from laypeople, he took just the introductions and summaries of its 12 chapters and published in 1902 as The Gospel in Brief.

This is Leo Tolstoy's integration of the four biblical gospels into a single account of the life of Jesus which was inspired by his meticulous study of the original Greek versions of the Bible.

The Gospel in Brief is an intriguing fusion of biblical texts and Tolstoy's own religious views. Tolstoy explains that his goal is a “solution to the problem of life," not a theological or historical statement. He therefore ignores issues like Jesus' genealogy and divinity, focusing instead on the words and teachings of Jesus, stripped of what he regarded as the Church's distortions and focus on dogma and ritual. The result is a work that emphasizes the individual's spiritual condition in an indifferent world.

The German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was profoundly influenced by The Gospel in Brief. Some modern scholars even suspect that the 12-part organization of The Gospel in Brief influenced the numbering layout of Wittgenstein's philosophical masterpiece, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.