Editing Nico Hartung (section)

== Religious Journey ==

=== From Atheism to Theism (2015–2019) ===
Nico's path to faith began unexpectedly in 2015, when he became fascinated by the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash. Research into the incident led him to conspiracy theory content, which he consumed intensively for years: Jeffrey Epstein, Pizzagate, secret societies, elite satanic rituals.

The cumulative effect of this research was philosophical rather than paranoid: if genuine devil worship existed among powerful people, the devil must be real. And if the devil was real, God must be too. By age sixteen, Nico had reasoned his way from convinced atheism to theism.

=== Conversion (2019) ===
Seeking the correct religion, Nico recalled his uncle Mimmo, who attended a free church. During an extended stay at Mimmo's home, Nico asked hundreds of questions about faith, the Bible, and the difference between Catholic and Protestant Christianity. By the end of that visit, he had prayed the "sinner's prayer" and attended his first services at Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude in Pforzheim.

=== Youth Group Years (2021–2024) ===
{{Main|Nico's Youth Group Years}}

From November 2021 to May 2024, Nico was an active member of the youth group at Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude. During this period, he was baptized (March 19, 2022), participated in charismatic practices including speaking in tongues and prophetic ministry, and experienced significant personal development alongside recurring struggles with relationships.

He departed the church in May 2024 due to theological disagreements regarding the doctrine of the Trinity, having developed subordinationist views through study of ante-Nicene Church Fathers.

=== Current Faith ===
Nico identifies as Christian but no longer affiliates with charismatic or Pentecostal movements. He views many practices he witnessed—speaking in tongues, prophetic words, prayer ministry—as psychological manipulation rather than genuine spiritual activity. He continues to study Scripture and theology independently, with particular interest in early church history and the development of Trinitarian doctrine.