Joseph Stalin as a Seminary Student Turned His Back on God

Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Josef Stalin, told the incredible story of how her father Josef Stalin had been a seminary student, preparing for the ministry. Then he came to a point in life where he made a decisive break from his belief in God. This dramatic and complete reversal of conviction that resulted in his hatred for all religion is why Lenin had earlier chosen Stalin and positioned him in authority. (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 of rebellion 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.)