Was Stalin a Believer?

[tir1944]

Was Stalin a religious man?
I've heard stories and rumor about Orthodox priests blessing the troops on the famous 1941 October Parade,Stalin ordering the Icon of the Matron of Kazan to be marched in procession around Mosocw,Leningrad and Stalingrad,that there was an Orthodox delegation at his funeral,that a "mass for his soul" was also held at that day (i don't know the exact name of this ritual in English) and that the Russian Patriarch at that time called Stalin a "very pious man".
Is any of this true? Does anyone have more precise information?
Thanks.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I do not think he was as he viciously blew up churches and according to my sources he implemented State Atheism (not that I'm complaining about that).

[Die Neue Zeit]

A BBC documentary on Stalin stated that he made only three Orthodox confessions throughout his life. It just so happens that all three of them were made during WWII and after.

[tir1944]

I do not think he was as he viciously blew up churches and according to my sources he implemented State Atheism (not that I'm complaining about that).
Undoubtlely,but the story goes that Stalin "returned to god" in 1941...

[RedZezz]

No,

Stalin went to a religious school as a child, but he was an atheist. During World War 2, he brought back as a way to boost morale and as a patriotic institution, but there is no evidence to suggest he was a believer in any sort of god.

[Caj]

I recall reading something about Stalin being an avid reader of religious holy texts and that he wouldn't allow any books in favor of atheism in his personal library. Could be all bullshit though.

[Ocean Seal]

Was Stalin a religious man?
I've heard stories and rumor about Orthodox priests blessing the troops on the famous 1941 October Parade,Stalin ordering the Icon of the Matron of Kazan to be marched in procession around Mosocw,Leningrad and Stalingrad,that there was an Orthodox delegation at his funeral,that a "mass for his soul" was also held at that day (i don't know the exact name of this ritual in English) and that the Russian Patriarch at that time called Stalin a "very pious man".
Is any of this true? Does anyone have more precise information?
Thanks.
Its possible. Very difficult to say whether or not its true. So I try to avoid the subject in analysis to other relevant things. In any case I don't think it affected his policy. He didn't implement state atheism in the way that Enver Hoxha implemented it, and I wouldn't say that he viciously blew up churches. He did demolish an important church, but that was because the higher ranks of the Orthodox church were very strongly in line with the Tsarist administration.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Undoubtlely,but the story goes that Stalin "returned to god" in 1941...

It might have had a thing or two to do with the war-morale, a lot of old reactionary nonsense were even encouraged simply to foster a nationalist spirit to strengthen resistance against the Germans; the extent to which this was effective, however, I guess it is hard to evaluate.

[kashkin]

I doubt it. I don't think it really matters though. What matters is that he destroyed the Church to pave way for his personality cult.

[Franz Fanonipants]

Ismael has a good quote about Stalin being like "lol enver hoxha you are crazy about being an atheist religion is a private deal."

[thesadmafioso]

the history forum should instead be called the villify Stalin forum.

Verbal Warning for spam, stay within the parameters of the discussion and save the baseless snark about the history forum for chit chat and any serious complaints for the members forum.

[Susurrus]

Nope.
Two quotes from young Stalin:

You know, they are fooling us, there is no God.



God's not unjust, he doesn't actually exist. We've been deceived. If God existed, he'd have made the world more just... I'll lend you a book and you'll see.

A few others from other times:

One of Ivan the Terrible's mistakes was to overlook the five great feudal families. If he had annihilated those five families, there would definitely have been no Time of Troubles. But Ivan the Terrible would execute someone and then spend a long time repenting and praying. God got in his way in this matter. He ought to have been still more decisive!


God is on your side? Is He a Conservative? The Devil's on my side, he's a good Communist.


Religion has nothing to do with nationality and statehood... the question of religious beliefs must be kept well in mind, must be handled with great care, because the religious feelings of the people must not be offended. These feelings have been cultivated in the people for many centuries, and great patience is called for on this question, because the stand towards it is important for the compactness and unity of the people.


That last one was to Hoxha btw.

[Franz Fanonipants]

That last one was to Hoxha btw.

that's the one

[Commissar Rykov]

He was an Atheist but he didn't encourage people to be dicks about it. His daughter made the comment that she shouldn't make fun of religious kids as her grandmother was religious.

[NewLeft]

Stalin was not a belieber, he had better taste in music.

Rykov is right, he was an atheist and he encouraged his daughter to be atheist.

[Tommy4ever]

Whilst Stalin was almost certainly not a Christian himself (he did afterall train as a priest and then leave it all after reading Capital - going on to join a staunchly atheist revolutionary group, never mind the whole blowing up churches thing later on ...) he did make an alliance with the Orthodox Church after the German invasion. Its just a pragmatic move to help boost his chances of winning the war and maintaining his regime - just like all his other policies.

[The Young Pioneer]

If parading around with the icon of the Mother of Kazan is true, it had more to do with lifting morale than it did with the religious convictions of the guy who ordered it done. :rolleyes: Since its creation, that icon has been a "holy" object, known for healing and etc. Take away Orthodoxy and it can still function as a superstitious luck and miracle symbol for the Russian people.

[Rafiq]

I don't think he was.

It is possible that he wanted to paint himself as one during the war and afterwords, but I doubt he actually was "a believer".

Honestly I don't see how important the topic is.

[Geiseric]

Were there many religeous bolsheviks? I know many were ethnically jewish, but to my knowlege none of them actually followed it?

[Die Neue Zeit]

Was Stalin similar, then, to today's twice-a-year Xians? Three personal confessions, all from WWII onwards, are rare, but they were still made.

[Commissar Rykov]

Were there many religeous bolsheviks? I know many were ethnically jewish, but to my knowlege none of them actually followed it?
Wasn't there a priest or a monk who joined the Bolsheviks during the Revolution?

[eyeheartlenin]

Wasn't there a priest or a monk who joined the Bolsheviks during the Revolution?

Father G.A. Gapon was a Russian Orthodox priest and a popular working class leader before the Russian Revolution of 1905, whom Lenin knew, who was involved to some extent in popular agitation, and who is mentioned in the memoirs of N.K. Krupskaya, Lenin's widow. Gapon died in March 1906.

As for Stalin, as people have written, he was a seminarian in Georgia in his youth, and, when the USSR was attacked by the Germans in June 1941, Stalin appealed to the Soviet people on the basis of patriotism. The broader historical question is whether the German attack surprised the Soviet leadership, but that would take us beyond the theme of this thread.

[Commissar Rykov]

Father G.A. Gapon was a Russian Orthodox priest and a popular working class leader before the Russian Revolution of 1905, whom Lenin knew, who was involved to some extent in popular agitation, and who is mentioned in the memoirs of N.K. Krupskaya, Lenin's widow. Gapon died in March 1906.

As for Stalin, as people have written, he was a seminarian in Georgia in his youth, and, when the USSR was attacked by the Germans in June 1941, Stalin appealed to the Soviet people on the basis of patriotism. The broader historical question is whether the German attack surprised the Soviet leadership, but that would take us beyond the theme of this thread.
Father Gapon was the one I was thinking of but I forgot the exact timeline for his involvement in the Working Class. Thanks though that was driving me nuts as I was trying to remember the name.:lol: