# Was Hitler a Christian?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-a-christian/555096>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 26, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-a-christian/555096 "2010-09-26T14:18:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 150

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**Author:** ![Wade\_A.Tisthammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@Wade\_A.Tisthammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wade_A.Tisthammer)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-a-christian/555096/150 "2010-12-27T16:57:06Z")

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> [@Mijin](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Again, it puzzles me why one should accept the word of a militant Internet atheist who questions Jesus’ existence and often fails to cite his sources over a distinguished historian.
> 
> It doesn’t mention the sources on that site, but I have come across some refs for historians that have doubts about _Table Talk_.
> 
> The historian Ian Kershaw, considered by many one of the leading figures on Hitler, with many published biographies, said of table talk “the `table talk’ monologues of the last months (the so called `bunkergespräche’) of which no German text has ever been brought to light must be treated with due caution”

That’s true of any historical document; it doesn’t imply that what Hitler said about Christianity should be rejected. Kershaw’s [wording in its context](http://books.google.com/books?id=nV-N10gyoFwC&pg=PR14#v=onepage&q&f=false) (which you omitted somewhat) is notable; he says that _even_ the table talk monologues should be treated with due caution, suggesting a level of reliability that is superior to other sources.

> [@Mijin](#):
>
> Another example is this [paper](http://www.jstor.org/pss/1432747) by Richard Carrier. (Carrier is an atheist activist, but nonetheless he is also a respected historian and this is a peer-reviewed paper)

A respected historian? I mentioned how he wasn’t so reputable in [post #110](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12989730&postcount=110) and explained why in [post #34](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12967377&postcount=34).

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