A true Christian is ready to lie, massacre innocents, and break their word to protect his Fatherland. The primary teachings of Jesus are not about eternal salvation or purity, but patriotism, liberty, glory, and this-worldly action.
This is Machiavelli’s interpretation of Christianity according to my guest Maurizio Viroli, one of the world’s leading Machiavelli scholars.
Professor Viroli is going to show why Machiavelli’s worldly Christianity is not an anomaly but the dominant form of Christianity of his time. Even more interesting: it is precisely Machiavelli’s Christianity that laid the foundations of the great republican movements of modernity including the founding of America.
Topics We Cover:
2:24 Why Machiavelli Is Not Anti-Christian
6:08 Machiavelli’s Dark Reading of the Bible
11:25 Fame Is Not Glory
22:36 Do What’s Necessary, God Will Understand
28:10 American Republicanism & Machiavelli’s Influence
33:23 Republicanism; a Christian Invention?
40:30 Why Machiavelli Wanted To Go To Hell
59:38 Locke Could Not Write Comedy Like Machiavelli
1:15:41 Seeking Glory Is Not Selfish