A letter being auctioned in London this week is sure to add fuel to the long-simmering debate about the religious views of Albert Einstein.
In the note, written a year before his death, the Nobel prize-winning physicist dismisses the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as “pretty childish.”
In it, Einstein said that “the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”
Illustrating a sharp difference between his public and more politic statements – and what he clearly addressed to his peers.
Bless you Al. [rim shot]
but….but….but…..
When he said “God doesn’t roll dice with the universe” that surely meant he believed in god. I’ve seen this said and assumed and trumpeted so many times that it must be true.
Very revisionist to change pop culture. But now that I know what he said shortly before his death, I will simply dismiss Albert as another elitist. Kids was retarded in school to begin with!!!!
The guy still waffles.
He doesn’t believe in a jewish god but believes ther is still spiritual things in the universe.
A bloody agnostic not an atheist.
Cursor_
Childish? What’s childish about believing in magical unprovable invisible beings that live in the sky that only you see or hear? Sounds sane to me.
My god is real, your god is a myth. FSM rules!
Although he may not be happy about it, it’s safe to say that he believes in God now.
Hey, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
#3 Einstein used the god paradigm as the rules and processes/fabric of the universe. Not as an entity who cares or does not care for the objects (people) within its realm that should be prayed to…
Also it wasn’t a last minute death bed conversion for him either.
“he said “God doesn’t roll dice with the universe” ” …
… which was his reaction to Quantum Physics. he thought it introduced a random element in to the universe, which he didn’t like. He was wrong about that – but only at the subatomic level.
For plenty of detail on Einstein’s views on religion, see http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/ . For example, in his views on atheists, he objected to a particular brand of atheist, the “hard atheist” as we’d call it today. “The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer,” he said.
I find his views on religion muddled and politically-correct – but then again, he had bigger things on his mind, and reacted badly to the way people took his words so seriously. He’s a physicist, Jim, not a philosopher.
There are multiple levels of belief, including the following (but obviously with additional graduations possible):
1) God is a supreme “being” who is watching, and one of the bibles is reasonably accurate, with the particular choice of bible depending on your religious choice
2) There is a higher power god who may or may not take the form of what we might consider a “being”. Organized religion is a man made construct that is not related to god (or God).
3) The existance of God or god is too hard to fathom, but scientific theories of how the universe started are also incomplete(agnostic).
4) No way there’s a God, nor a god. The science may have difficulties, but that’s the only way to understand where we are (athiest).
I don’t think there’s much evidence that Einstein was ever in class (1), but from what we know, I suspect he was probably aligned between (2) and (3).
#5, Max;
Please provide citations or proof.
Can’t?
Now STFU.
“Even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other” there are “strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies … science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind … a legitimate conflict between science and religion cannot exist.”
Huh.
#9–Kwad===huh? When did you make all this up?
As I understand it, in your view god is either the personal being in our image type bible guy, or a metaphor, or redundantly–doesn’t exist?
Please add “anti-theist” to your made up list, just for completeness==or, a bible type god but not one described by any bible==as in who could understand such an entity???? So far beyond/above Einstein as an ant to star beings?
Yea God!
Being dead doesn’t mean you now believe in Gawd. It’s difficult to believe in anything when you have NO BRAIN since you’re DEAD.
I’m really sick and tired of the concept that you still have a mind, and you’re conscious, alert, thinking, seeing, hearing, and still worried about people who are still living, when your brain stops working.
Not to say you have no spirit/soul anymore, but you can’t take your mind with you.
Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about every week we have the same argument, about the same thing, and make the same points. Maybe if we keep repeating ourselves, we’ll all change our minds. The religious will throw away their silly superstitions, the non-religious will see the light and become born again.
“it’s safe to say that he believes in God now.”?
I thought he was dead now, if so he believes in nothing, once you’re dead it’s over, only fools believe in after life
[Duplicate comment deleted. – ed.]
#2 On his dumbest day, he was still smarter then you.
#17–gq==why you after me? Musta been something from another thread??? Let it go man, or you start looking quite foolish===probably said something like that earlier?? ((HAH!!))
I doubt Einstein was smarter than me until at least his 5th birthday? But I could be wrong.
Why don’t you fixate on Michael==he likes the attention and vapid postings.
[My_Argument_Against_Primitive_Mythology]
[Your_Anger][Your_Heartfelt_Beliefs]
[My_Reminding_Belief_has_LIE_in_Middle]
[Your_Indignation]
[My_Reminding_Religion_Connected_Heredity_Geography]
[Your_Glazed_Look_Hearing_Angels_Singing]
Is there really a point anymore? Keep these children away from the cult and show them another way. When they’re 4. Save the part of the brain that gets allocated to this cycle of religious addiction. It is a drug. It is your responsibility as an evangelical athiest to show them, early, before pain ingratiates it to the dopamine producing parts of the brain, that there is another way. We do not have to hold onto ancient myths to have a full life. We can embrace the beauty and wonder of life and nature without connecting it to an old cult. These cults must die. They hurt. Sabotage their young all you can into skepticism. It is our future we’re talking about. Religion kills. It lacerates young minds into a fog. It must end.
I’m sure Einstein kept his religous views to himself for most of his career because he knew it might hurt his career.
Thomas Pain waited to write Age of Reason until he finished other objectives in his life.
Einstein may have known that expressing his religous views would label him a crackpot. Then his work would’ve been useless. He may have played the role of a believer to serve the greater good.
Proof that religion and lies go hand in hand.
[Duplicate comment deleted. – ed.]
Red Pill, exactly what I was thinking.
#16 – morram
Just because someone may deny there is an afterlife doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The day you snuff it is the day you get to meet the Big Guy. Some will be happy about it, others – not so much.
When he said “God doesn’t roll dice with the universe” that surely meant he believed in god.
Not any more than when Gorbachev said to Ronald Reagan, “God bless you,” he was expressing belief in a deity. A chemistry prof of mine, in response to certain questions, used to quip, “GMIS– God made it so– but he wasn’t speaking literally.”
Einstein definitely made mistakes in his life:
* The universal constant (now becoming an unmistake but for different reasons)
* God does not play dice with the universe (true, but only because god does not exist)
However, calling religion childish was not a mistake. It is a crutch for people who can’t handle their own mortality.
#2 – bobbo,
When Einstein referred to god, at most, he meant a deist sort of a god that put the universe in motion. More likely, he simply meant the universe or the order in the universe.
He was very clear throughout his life whenever asked. He did not believe in a personal god to whom one might pray for temporary suspension of the laws of physics, or even one that required the saccharine adoration of his/her subjects.
#3 – He doesn’t believe in a jewish god but believes ther is still spiritual things in the universe.
A bloody agnostic not an atheist.
Oh jeez… I believe in spirituality and I’m a hard core atheist.
#5 – Although he may not be happy about it, it’s safe to say that he believes in God now.
No… It isn’t…
#22 – And you are still an idiot.
When it comes to the state of the known universe, I’m going with Einstein.
When it comes with my eternal soul? I’m going with the man who gave his life on a tree.
But I’m just funny that way.
#5 – Max,
Although he may not be happy about it, it’s safe to say that he believes in God now.
And your proof would be? Why is it safe to say? What if the real god is Baal or Zeus or Odin and gets pissed whenever anyone calls him god? That doesn’t sound safe to me.
#9 – KwadGuy,
There’s a 3.5 between your 3 and your 4 that is also an atheist. In fact, I’ve never met your anyone that fits your definition number 4.
3.5 says – There is no evidence of god and no reason to give the god hypothesis any more credence than any other hypothesis for which there is not one shred of evidence.
#11 – Mister Mustard,
I’m familiar with the quote. I’d be curious to see a time line of his quotes regarding religion, real quotes like that one and this letter, rather than the god does not play dice sort, which was not a statement about religion when he made it.
Regardless though. The man was fallible like the rest of us. Atheists and theists alike love to claim Einstein among their own because it makes everyone feel smarter to be associated with the man. Personally, even if he had said that he believed in a personal god, I would just chalk that up to his personal choice. It would not affect me in the least.
#12 – bobbo,
As an antitheist myself, I can say that my views about god are no different than an atheist’s. My views about religion are what is different. So, perhaps it does not need to be on Kwad’s list. Antitheism is merely the belief that religion is a net evil on the planet and has caused way more pain than it has prevented.
Antitheists are not opposed to god. How can one oppose what does not exist? Antitheists oppose religion, which does exist.
#13 – FRAGaLOT,
Excellent point. Mind is what the brain does. No brain; no mind.
#22 Max,
Just because you assert that there is an afterlife doesn’t mean it exists. The burden of proof is on you. Have you a single shred of evidence? No? Then, I’ll give the possibility the same credence I give to fire-breathing dragons, i.e. none.
There’s more similarity than you think. Not only does neither one have a shred of evidence, both are featured in many stories. The stories don’t make either one true.
#26 – Matt Garrett,
When it comes to the state of the known universe, I’m going with Einstein.
When it comes with my eternal soul? I’m going with the man who gave his life on a tree.
But I’m just funny that way.
That’s all well and good. The two provided very different kinds of knowledge though. One gave information that is testable, makes predictions, and helps us in our daily lives. The other, not so much.
What would you do if you found out that the whole Christ-on-a-stick-thing never actually happened?
http://tinyurl.com/34amgh
Matt, why do you believe that your god died on a tree? What convinced you that it is the truth, and other unsubstantiated ideas are not?