Was Einstein's use of the God-metaphor helpful or harmful?

Question

Einstein was an atheist who used God as a metaphor for the cosmos and the rules of the universe. His quotes have been misinterpreted by religious people who think Einstein believed in a personal god, or that he had faith in some sort of supernatural basis for the cosmos. Have Einstein's "God quotes" been helpful or harmful in communicating his ideas to future generations?

Answer 1

Considering he was the genius...I guess he knew what he was doing....


Atheists object to the use of the quote, since Einstein might best be described as an agnostic.2 Einstein himself stated quite clearly that he did not believe in a personal God:

"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly."

So, the quick answer to the question is that Einstein did not believe in a personal God. It is however, interesting how he arrived at that conclusion. In developing the theory of relativity, Einstein realized that the equations led to the conclusion that the universe had a beginning. He didn't like the idea of a beginning, because he thought one would have to conclude that the universe was created by God. So, he added a cosmological constant to the equation to attempt to get rid of the beginning. He said this was one of the worst mistakes of his life. Of course, the results of Edwin Hubble confirmed that the universe was expanding and had a beginning at some point in the past. So, Einstein became a deist - a believer in an impersonal creator God:

"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."

It is the second part of the quote that reveals the reason Einstein rejected the existence of a personal God. Einstein compared the remarkable design and order of the cosmos and could not reconcile those characteristics with the evil and suffering he found in human existence. How could an all-powerful God allow the suffering that exists on earth?

Answer 2

The difficulty lies in that he had a different definition of god. As far as helping or hurting. I'm going to ask the people who read this not to take offense although I know they will as is their nature. His use of God doesn't matter because people who follow religion do so zealously. In other words if he didn't say it they would have assumed it and even if he tried to directly slander religion it would have been ignored. All though people don't like to think about it, most religions are terrifyingly similar to the terrorist extremists on the news(The Knights Templar for example and the persecution of Jews in Europe. The Christians used to call Islamists devils for example). As far as how communicating his views the people who would use it see it how they want to. Whats important is the science, everything else is noise.

Answer 3

Einstein's statement about God not playing dice with the universe was consistent with his religious beliefs in God laying down the laws of the universe, not one that has an intense interest in human activity. He called his religion a "cosmic religious sense".

In The World As I See It he wrote:

* You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a peculiar religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religion of the naive man.

* For the latter God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a child for its father, a being to whom one stands to some extent in a personal relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe.

* But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.

In response to the telegrammed question of New York's Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein in 1929: "Do you believe in God? Stop. Answer paid 50 words." Einstein replied "I believe in Spinoza's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind." Note that Einstein replied in only 25 (German) words. Spinoza was a pantheist.

Answer 4

no doubt einstein was a brilliant man. However, we know that he wasn't right about everything. It was his way of coming to terms with what was a difficult problem for him, what we now know to be proven and verifiable laws of quantum physics. If one studies these laws and understands them, what we see is that einstein was wrong, God does play dice, yet what matters most is that those dice are put in the hands of sentient, thinking creatures.

This is an example of one brilliant man's fallibility and ego.

has it harmed/helped faith? i don't think it's done either. But quantum physics has helped intelligent humans come to terms with a truth that is hard for many to swallow--that god, loosely defined by religious terminology--does exist.

Answer 5

His quote "god doesn't play dice" in his arguement against quantum mechanics was wrong in thinking, quantum mechanics is one of the most highly tested adn accurate theory in physics. Also Einsteins added a constant into his general theory of relativity because he though that the universe was unchanging because it was created by god. It was found within his lifetime that the added constant was wrong and he had it solved properly if he hadn't taken god into account

Answer 6

I think his working in a patent office and his coming up with all those great theories is a coincidence worth some exploring.

He was also quoted as saying something like Genius is all in how well you hide your sources.

So, as far as his take on God - he was a paradox, man. A paradox!

Answer 7

he sounds more lika a pantheist, and like any socioeconomic political power, religion can become corrupt and malevolent,I would not attribute this to eisteins ideas,but to human nature

Answer 8

I think that ultimately, it's been harmful because it misrepresents his ideas. Plain and simple, it's a miscommunication.

Answer 9

"god doesn't play dice" was countered with "stop telling god what to do".

Probably plays Yahtzee anyway...