Alexander, Cæsar, Charlemagne and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon sheer force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men will die for Him…

I search in vain to find anything similar to Jesus Christ, or approaching the gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature offer me anything to compare…

I know men and, I tell you, Jesus Christ was more than a man. His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which certainly is not that of man.

— Napoleon

A scientifically rigorous 2014 study ranked Napoleon Bonaparte the second most influential figure in history. Who was the first? Jesus Christ.

Similarly, more books have been written and more movies made about Napoleon than anyone else — except for Jesus.

Lord Acton (of “absolute power corrupts absolutely” fame) wrote that, “No intellectual exercise can be more invigorating than to watch the working of the mind of Napoleon, the most entirely known and ablest of historic men.” What, then, could be more fascinating than Napoleon’s opinions on Jesus?

At the height of Napoleon’s glory, the great diplomat Metternich wrote: “He was not irreligious. He would not admit that a genuine atheist ever existed. He respected religious practices too much to permit the slightest ridicule. Perhaps he viewed religion only as policy and not with sentiment. But whatever the secret of his heart, he never betrayed it.”

Napoleon certainly opened his heart after he lost the Battle of Waterloo and was imprisoned on St Helena island. The humbled captive Bonaparte viewed life very differently from the arrogant conqueror Napoleon, as these quotes show beyond a doubt.

The Mystery of Life

“From whence do I come? Whither do I go? Who am I? Human life is a mystery in its origin, organisation, and end.

“The creation and destiny of the world are an unfathomable abyss, as is the creation and destiny of each individual.

“Christianity at least does not evade these great questions. It meets them boldly. And its doctrines are a solution for everyone who believes.”

Philosophy versus Christianity

“Which man of sense ever learned anything from ancient or modern metaphysics, which has no connection with our domestic life or passions. It might be possible to seize the key of Socrates and Plato with a special aptitude and years of study. But good sense and an honest heart are sufficient to comprehend Christianity.

“Christianity is neither ideology nor metaphysics, but a practical rule. It directs the actions of man, corrects him, counsels him, assists him in all his conduct. If this is not the true religion, one is very excusable in being deceived; for everything in it is grand and worthy of God.”

The Spirit Conquered

“All kings and forces of Earth were arrayed on one side. Upon the other I see no army, but a mysterious energy; individuals scattered here and there, in all parts of the globe, having no other rallying sign than a common faith in the mysteries of the cross.

“On one side, we see rage, hatred, violence. On the other, gentleness, moral courage, infinite resignation. For 300 years spirit struggled against the brutality of sense, conscience against despotism, soul against body, virtue against vices.

“The blood of Christians flowed in torrents. They died kissing the hand which slew them. The soul alone protested, while the body surrendered to all tortures. Everywhere Christians fell, and everywhere they triumphed. The spirit conquered the sword.”

The Eternal Church

“Nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the church remains. What is the power which has protected this church, thus assailed by the rage and hostility of ages? Whose is the arm which, for 1,800 years, has protected the church from so many storms which have threatened to engulf it?”

Universal Christianity

“Truth should embrace the universe. Christianity destroys sectional prejudice and proclaims the unity and absolute brotherhood of the whole human family. It assigns to all, without distinction, a true country, the bosom of the Creator, God.”

The Book Surpassing

“The gospel is a living book surpassing all others; I never omit to read it, and every day with the same pleasure. Even the impious dare not deny its sublimity.

“Nowhere is to be found such a series of beautiful ideas, admirable moral maxims, which pass before us like the battalions of a celestial army, and which produce in our soul the same emotion one experiences in contemplating the infinite expanse of the skies, resplendent in a summer’s night, with all the brilliance of the stars.

“Not only is our mind absorbed, it is controlled, and the soul can never go astray with this book for its guide. What happiness it procures for those who believe it!”

Christ’s Greatest Miracle

“The founders of other religions never conceived of the mystical love, which is the essence of Christianity, and is beautifully called charity. In every attempt to effect this thing, namely, to make himself beloved, man deeply feels his own impotence. So that Christ’s greatest miracle undoubtedly is, the reign of charity.”

All quotes here are from the 1837 book Sentiments of Napoleon on Christianity, whose veracity was vouched for his St Helena companion Count Montholon. They are likely as genuine as any recorded Napoleonic conversations.

There has always been a strange tendency to regard Napoleon as more than a mere mortal. The noted philosopher Hegel saw him as “The world-spirit on horseback”. The great writer Goethe enthused that, “His life was the stride of a demi-god.”

Countless books and movies have celebrated him as history’s ultimate action hero. The books keep pouring forth, and a new ‘Napoleon’ movie will be released later this year.

But, as he himself said, a man is only a man. Suffering from terminal stomach cancer on a tiny isolated island, the once master of the world increasingly felt his fragile humanity, and grew more religious as the grave drew nigh.

“Upon the throne, far from devout, I had too much regard for public opinion, and said, ‘Religion is a political engine.’ But, even then, if questioned directly, I should have replied ‘Yes! I am a Christian.’

“There is a divine cause, a sovereign reason, an infinite being. That Cause is the cause of causes. That Reason is the reason creative of intelligence. There exists an infinite being, compared with whom I am nothing.

“I have a horror of an atheist and a materialist. Can I have any sympathies in common with he who does not believe in the existence of the soul, who believes himself a lump of clay, who wishes that I may also be a lump of clay?

“And my dead body, too, must return to the earth to become food for worms. Behold the destiny, near at hand, of him who was called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal reign of Christ!”

The dying Napoleon confessed his sins and received communion. His last will and testament read, “I die in the Apostolic Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was born.”