Was Napoleon an Athiest?

[BigG]

I'm just curious if anyone confirm Napoleon's religious standings at the time. I have read some quotes from him that seem to me like he is an athiest, although, does anyone know the real answer?

[{II}Sovereign]

Agnostic

Or the religion of the general if you prefer..

[EmperorBatman999]

Well he was know to have said,
"Religion is excellent for keeping the people happy."
So it seems he wasn't a very religous man.

[Augment]

He was an Atheist, just like Frederick the Great he had to keep it to himself.
Only the people close to him knew, later in life he began revering himself and thinking he was Jesus.

[Keyser]

He was an Atheist, just like Frederick the Great he had to keep it to himself.
Only the people close to him knew, later in life he began revering himself and thinking he was Jesus.

In the context of revolutionnary France, he didn't really "had" to keep it to himself...

Though, as he used religion to strenghten his position, post concordate, he had to, at least, look like he was catholic.

He converted to Islam, or played with the idea to do so, it's not very clear, when he was in Egypt to help him rule the area.

When he had to be crowned emperor he used catholicism... (while preserving religious liberty for the protestants and jews)

[PhilipO'Hayda]

He was an Atheist, just like Frederick the Great he had to keep it to himself.
Only the people close to him knew, later in life he began revering himself and thinking he was Jesus.

do you have something to back that up?

[Augment]

I know Frederick the Great was an atheist because he said he is in the Letters of Voltaire and Frederick.
Napoleon was an atheist but he found France more important, he would go against the Directory atheist who wanted to dethrone the pope but Napoleon said it would create a power vacuum.
He used the pope as a tool(which he really is) by keeping him prisoner and pointing cannons at his palace bedroom.
Like Frederick, he really didnt care what someone believed in for he could use it to stay in power.

[IAB1789]

He seems to have been atheist during most of his life, perhaps because it was the fashion of the time more than from any personal reason. His brief acceptance of Islam during the campaign in Egypt was certainly political and cynical. But he did say, on learning of his exile to St Helena "I must have a priest about me; I would not die like a dog.' And as he lay on his bed in his last illness, he told those around him that he wanted do all that a good Catholic should do before death: be confessed, receive the last sacrement and have the prayers for the dead recited over him. His surgeon smiled at this, at which Napoleon said angrily: 'Be off! Stupidity fatigues me, but I can forgive shallow wits or even bad manners. I cannot forgive dullness of heart.' It seems that, like Charles II of England, the Emperor returned to the faith of his childhood before he died. (I know this will disapoint all you atheists out there, but don't blame me, I'm just an historian, and not a Catholic either, so I don't have a dog in this game).

[PhilipO'Hayda]

I know Frederick the Great was an atheist because he said he is in the Letters of Voltaire and Frederick.
Napoleon was an atheist but he found France more important, he would go against the Directory atheist who wanted to dethrone the pope but Napoleon said it would create a power vacuum.
He used the pope as a tool(which he really is) by keeping him prisoner and pointing cannons at his palace bedroom.
Like Frederick, he really didnt care what someone believed in for he could use it to stay in power.

yep here is what you need to back it up, aldo there's notting to say if his Agnostic or Athiest

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common peolpe quiet"- Napoleon

"All Religions have been made up by men"- Napoleon

[IAB1789]

yep here is what you need to back it up

Referencing a fictional conversation between Napoleon and Pius VII can't be considered the most definitive answer

[PhilipO'Hayda]

Referencing a fictional conversation between Napoleon and Pius VII can't be considered the most definitive answer

thats editing what I just siad.
you forget the two quotes I put down.

[IAB1789]

thats editing what I just siad.
you forget the two quotes I put down.

I see. And the two quotes I put down? (I knew the atheists couldn't let this rest! )

[PhilipO'Hayda]

I see. And the two quotes I put down? (I knew the atheists couldn't let this rest! )

well Napoleon has never siad if he belived in god.

[IAB1789]

well Napoleon has never siad if he belived in god.

You're full of casuistry today, I see His belief seems pretty implicit from his actions, wouldn't you say? I mean at the end of his life. I grant you his earlier cynical posturing

[Gauloisier]

I'd say a fideist.
He was in favor of the religion as it was the religion of the people, and believed more in the power of the religion than in the power of an hypothetical god. A kind of "France is catholic, let's be catholic then".

"On peut vivre sans dieu, mais on ne peut pas vivre sans religion." - N. Bonaparte
(one can live without god, but one cant live without religion)
All in all he most probably never really believed in god and considered the religion to be totally artificial and human way to exploit the people... but accepted it as part of the "stability of the state".

[IAB1789]

I'd say a fideist.
He was in favor of the religion as it was the religion of the people, and believed more in the power of the religion than in the power of an hypothetical god. A kind of "France is catholic, let's be catholic then".

"On peut vivre sans dieu, mais on ne peut pas vivre sans religion." - N. Bonaparte
(one can live without god, but one cant live without religion)
All in all he most probably never really believed in god and considered the religion to be totally artificial and human way to exploit the people... but accepted it as part of the "stability of the state".

That seems plausible, until you consider that he spent the most impressionable years of his life raised by a very Catholic woman. The fashionable atheism that he adopted in later life was part of the other sticks of furniture that accompanied his rule, like the grey coat devoid of medals.

[Machiavelli25]

He was an Atheist, just like Frederick the Great he had to keep it to himself.
Only the people close to him knew, later in life he began revering himself and thinking he was Jesus.

In revolutionary France?? It was practically the state religion!

[Godagesil]

Most people think of the word "atheist" as a perjorative. It actually only means A- without, theist- religion. A person without religion. I prefer the term realist. People steeped in religion have their heads in the sand. The old term God of the Gaps sums it up perfectly.
God has and is used to explain things that man has not been able to explain. Hence all the ridiculous beliefs that the Church held dearly that we now see as patent nonsense. The Sun rotating around the Earth, the Earth being made in 7 days or 6000 years take you pick. As science explains more and more of those things that were once unexplainable, we no longer need superstitions or god to offer an explanations. We know that sacrificing a virgin or a lamb will not make it rain any sooner than the atmospheric due point allows. So god gets pushed into the ever shrinking gaps, forced to retreat into those areas that science has not provied unequivocable answers for and is likely not to. Things like whether we have a soul, or life after death. Other faith based stuff. A lot of people today live thier lives trying to earn brownie points, trying to win favor with something made up by some faceless shamem thousands of years ago. I find that tragic, but if it makes you happy...I let my daughter keep her blankie until it was old, full of holes and in tatters, my son clung to an old stuffed Snoopie until it was gray and held together by duct tape. I see no difference between that and beliefs that offer people security and peace of mind. I just find it silly.

[PhilipO'Hayda]

Most people think of the word "atheist" as a perjorative. It actually only means A- without, theist- religion. A person without religion. I prefer the term realist. People steeped in religion have their heads in the sand. The old term God of the Gaps sums it up perfectly.
God has and is used to explain things that man has not been able to explain. Hence all the ridiculous beliefs that the Church held dearly that we now see as patent nonsense. The Sun rotating around the Earth, the Earth being made in 7 days or 6000 years take you pick. As science explains more and more of those things that were once unexplainable, we no longer need superstitions or god to offer an explanations. We know that sacrificing a virgin or a lamb will not make it rain any sooner than the atmospheric due point allows. So god gets pushed into the ever shrinking gaps, forced to retreat into those areas that science has not provied unequivocable answers for and is likely not to. Things like whether we have a soul, or life after death. Other faith based stuff. A lot of people today live thier lives trying to earn brownie points, trying to win favor with something made up by some faceless shamem thousands of years ago. I find that tragic, but if it makes you happy...I let my daughter keep her blankie until it was old, full of holes and in tatters, my son clung to an old stuffed Snoopie until it was gray and held together by duct tape. I see no difference between that and beliefs that offer people security and peace of mind. I just find it silly.

thats great and all..
But..
The question is if Napoleon was an Athiest, not do we need Athiests.

[IAB1789]

Most people think of the word "atheist" as a perjorative. It actually only means A- without, theist- religion. A person without religion. I prefer the term realist. People steeped in religion have their heads in the sand. The old term God of the Gaps sums it up perfectly.
God has and is used to explain things that man has not been able to explain. Hence all the ridiculous beliefs that the Church held dearly that we now see as patent nonsense. The Sun rotating around the Earth, the Earth being made in 7 days or 6000 years take you pick. As science explains more and more of those things that were once unexplainable, we no longer need superstitions or god to offer an explanations. We know that sacrificing a virgin or a lamb will not make it rain any sooner than the atmospheric due point allows. So god gets pushed into the ever shrinking gaps, forced to retreat into those areas that science has not provied unequivocable answers for and is likely not to. Things like whether we have a soul, or life after death. Other faith based stuff. A lot of people today live thier lives trying to earn brownie points, trying to win favor with something made up by some faceless shamem thousands of years ago. I find that tragic, but if it makes you happy...I let my daughter keep her blankie until it was old, full of holes and in tatters, my son clung to an old stuffed Snoopie until it was gray and held together by duct tape. I see no difference between that and beliefs that offer people security and peace of mind. I just find it silly.

Actually, you speak to my contention: Napoleon was far too clever to be an atheist!