#20: Was Hitler a Christian, Atheist, or Something Else? — Richard Weikart

No matter how little you know about history, you know something about Adolf Hitler. And if you want to shut down an opponent, you can claim that Hitler said/did/believed the same thing. Godwin’s Law exists for a reason.

But Hitler remains a persistent mystery on one front—his religious faith. Atheists tend to insist Hitler was a devout Christian. Christians contend that he was an atheist. And still others suggest that he was a practicing member of the occult.

None of these theories is true, says historian Richard Weikart in his new book Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich. Delving more deeply into the question of Hitler’s religious faith than any researcher to date, Weikart reveals the startling and fascinating truth about the most hated man of the twentieth century: Adolf Hitler was a pantheist who believed nature was the only true “God.”

In this episode we discuss the following:

• How Hitler’s Frankenstein’s monster religion of pantheism, eugenics, Germanic folk belief, and even Islam served to create the most notorious monster of the twentieth century
• Hitler constantly lied, so if he took a dose of truth serum, what would he say about his religious beliefs
• Why members of Hitler’s inner circle (especially SS leader Heinrich Himmler) loved the occult so much that they regularly consulted astrologers…until Hitler stamped out the practice
• Why Hitler went on a propaganda crusade to white-wash Christian symbolism out of old photographs
• How atheists and conservative Christians both misunderstand what Hitler believed
• How Hitler actually was intent on destroying Christianity

Check out Richard’s book Hitler’s Religion by clicking here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Weikart is a professor of modern European history at California State University, Stanislaus, and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He has published numerous scholarly articles, as well as five previous books including The Death of Humanity: and the Case for Life (Regnery, 2016) and From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany.

He has appeared in several documentaries, including Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. In addition to scholarly journals, his work has been featured and discussed in the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, National Review, Christianity Today, World magazine, BreakPoint, Citizen, various radio shows, and other venues. Weikart lives in Snelling, CA, with his wife and children.

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