The true atheist believes in the return of the dead Christ, says Slavoj Žižek – and turns Christianity upside down

Slavoj Žižek represents a way of thinking that combines various, sometimes contradictory, theories in an original way. He makes productive use of paradoxes. Even though his diverse, several thousand-page oeuvre is difficult to survey, let alone summarize, three pillars can be identified on which his thinking is based: Hegelianism, Marxism, and psychoanalysis in the continuation of Jacques Lacan.

Ten years ago, Slavoj Žižek explored Hegel in his approximately 1,500-page tome "Less Than Nothing." His new book, "Christian Atheism," addresses the Marxist social utopia. He turns the frontal attack into a positive one: "The old accusation against Marxism that its commitment to a bright future is nothing more than a secularization of religious salvation should be embraced with pride."

To leave faith behind, one must have gone through religion, says Žižek. The hasty assertion that God is dead only leads to him continually returning in other forms: "Just think of how political correctness imposes numerous prohibitions and rules." It is therefore necessary to undermine faith from within and declare God not only dead, but also indifferent and stupid, even evil. Only in this way can one prevent him from haunting the secular world in an idealized, constantly changing form.

According to Žižek, the true atheist believes in the incarnation of the spirit, as known only in Christianity, and in the return of the dead Christ: As the Holy Spirit, he establishes an egalitarian community of believers in the here and now. This emancipatory collective looks forward to a just world. One day, communism will enter the stage, "through a state of emergency imposed on us by an apocalyptic threat." In this scenario, which sounds more threatening than blissful, Marx returns to the vale of tears as a savior with a halo. As refreshing as some of Žižek's intellectual pirouettes are, this fantasy of redemption is stale.

For Žižek, Marxism still works, but only "when supplemented by psychoanalysis." However, psychoanalysis is kept discreetly in the background in his new book. The author doubts whether God believes in himself – in the spirit of Lacan ("Dieu ne croit pas en Dieu"). We must, according to Žižek, make the step from our doubt about God to God's doubt about his own divinity and show "that we don't need God to explain reality." Only in this way can we free ourselves from the shackles of religion.

At this point, Slavoj Žižek takes a major step away from the humanities and toward the natural sciences. In his view, quantum theory suggests the absence or non-existence of God: "For me, quantum phenomena are proof that God himself (the great Other) is being deceived, that something is beyond his grasp." Even though the philosopher admits to being "not the least bit qualified" in the face of the highly complex subject, he devotes a detailed chapter to quantum physics.

More convincing than such daring excursions into the realm of exact science are Žižek's remarks on contemporary sociopolitical phenomena. His critique of the pervasive wokeness culture, which is slowly but surely becoming the norm, hits the mark: "The effort to address diversity inclusively, etc., ends in an extremely vulgar and intellectually shameful reductionism." The culture of prohibition, he argues, connects wokeism with religious fundamentalism and the ideology of the new right.

Similar to Peter Sloterdijk in his new book "The Continent Without Qualities," Žižek criticizes Europe's despondent attitude toward the recent global political upheavals. Europe is virtually "obsessed with the fear of asserting its own identity," indeed "enjoys its self-accusation to the fullest," Slavoj Žižek pointedly argues. The universally valid achievements of the Enlightenment, which aim at human emancipation, are being denounced as a Eurocentric project. In this psychopolitical state, Europe will become easy prey for the enemies of democratic progress in both East and West.

Slavoj Žižek: Christian Atheism: How to Become a True Materialist. Translated from English by Frank Born and Axel Walter. S.-Fischer-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2025. 409 pp., CHF 44.90.