Related commentaries – Rebellion

Joseph Stalin was once a seminary student

The incredible irony of his whole life is that at one time Josef Stalin had been a seminary student, preparing for the ministry. At a later time it seems that he made a decisive change from his belief in God. This dramatic and complete reversal of conviction that resulted in his hatred for all religion is why Lenin choose Stalin and positioned him in authority-a choice Lenin too late regretted. (The name Stalin, which means “steel,” was not his real name, but was given to him by his contemporaries who fell under the steel-like determination of his will.) And as Stalin lay dying, his one last gesture was a clenched fist toward God, his heart as cold and hard as steel. (Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, Word Publ., Dallas: 1994, p. 26).