Einstein was not a Christian. Einstein did not believe in your god. Einstein explicitly stated that he believed in Spinoza's god (soul and body are one, impersonal god). He even stated he is not an atheist nor a pantheist (implying something unique and sort of in between).
Why then do Christians here keep trying to imply that Einstein was a Christain!? Twisting the truth is the same as lying.
http://www.ctinquiry.org/publications/reflections_volume_1/torrance.htm
2006-07-25 09:32:59 · 32 answers · asked by lenny 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"some" Christians. That seemed obvious to me, but since SOME of you are confused...
2006-07-25 10:00:53 · update #1
In answer to questions posed: I called them "nutters" because they are. Why do I care? I don't like seeing insane people wander the streets and there aren't enough straight jackets to go around. Seems a good enough reason.
2006-07-25 10:06:53 · update #2
I'll tell you why. Because Christians like to be able to make claims that are about 10% true even when they can't back them up. You hear crap like this in a sermon where everyone says, "Oh yeah, that makes sense" but if you actually pay critical attention their logic fails at every turn. The more stupid little charming anecdotes Christians come up with, the more people think Christianity makes sense. Watch me do it: "There were some footprints in the sand, Einstein knew the universe so well he knew there had to be a God, Darwin disproved all of his own theories before he died. Therefore God exists and we shouldn't let gay people get married." Wasn't that easy?
Someday people will make the big decisions in life based on science or reason and not based on the warm, fuzzy, secure feeling that blind faith brings and the world will be a better place.
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2006-07-25 09:34:12 · answer #1 · answered by ? 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Einstein was a deist. And from his writings I have read I doubt your claim it was Spinoza's god he believed existed. That god is much too limited in scope.
I've never implied here or anywhere else Einstein was a Christian. So if you don't mind --Please don't include me in that group though I am a Christian. How about saying SOME Christians imply Einstein was a Christian. You said it yourself,"Twisting the truth is the same as lying."
I liked this quote of Albert's the best
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
2006-07-25 09:59:08 · answer #2 · answered by namsaev 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because if your religion is to be great, greatness must comith forth from it, or at least that's the picture they try to paint. No different than a sleasy politician attaching his name to some good deed done that he had no part of. It's an advertising by false association of sorts for self-glorification.
I don't have the book any more to cite the exact quote, so I can only paraphrase, but when Einstein put forth Relativity and the world was waiting in judgement to see if it was valid, he said something to the effect that if he was wrong the German's would call him a Jew and if he was right, a proud Arian brother. (Ask for this quote in the science section, my facts aren't perfect, but I bet someone can dig up the quote if you want it.)
If a great, great man walked the earth today, capable of uncommon good and uncommon ability, he would probably be labeled as Jesus by Christians, Buddha by Buddhists, etc., etc.
2006-07-25 09:49:11 · answer #3 · answered by Jeff 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do an awful lot of reading, but have never heard of anyone claiming that Einstein was a Christian. It has always been my belief that he was a German Jew.
Spinoza might have a great God, but he doesn't get around much, I never heard of him. As for being a " pantheist", how the heck many EISTS are there ?
2006-07-25 09:45:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He said "God doesn't play dice with the universe" meaning nothing is left to chance so far as it can all be explained.
Take it literally if you please, but then read his other quotes:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religion than it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."
"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it."
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
-Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist
2006-07-25 09:44:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christian's God, Muslim's God, Spinoza's God - all the same one God, right? Am I missing something?I could call my God Charlie & we'd still be talking about the same higher being. I hope you make it to heaven so you can ask Einstein himself (if he made it there b/c only "Charlie" knows - lol).
A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.
2006-07-25 09:40:14 · answer #6 · answered by Steph 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is this question only addressed to Einstein ? Im sure other people know why nutters insist on lying about - probably because they are tired , which lets face it , isn't such a bad idea anyway ! You don't need to be Einstein to work that one out .
2006-07-25 09:36:32 · answer #7 · answered by clintwestwood 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm waiting for them to invent tales about Carl Sagan's "belief in God".
--
"He didn't want to believe. He wanted to know.
"Contrary to the fantasies of the fundamentalists, there was no deathbed conversion, no last minute refuge taken in a comforting vision of a heaven or an afterlife. For Carl, what mattered most was what was true, not merely what would make us feel better. Even at this moment when anyone would be forgiven for turning away from the reality of our situation, Carl was unflinching. As we looked deeply into each other's eyes, it was with a shared conviction that our wondrous life together was ending forever." --- Ann Druyan (Mrs. Carl Sagan)
2006-07-25 09:40:09 · answer #8 · answered by Sweetchild Danielle 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"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. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
-From a letter Einstein wrote in English, dated 24 March 1954.
Because, they don't need the truth. All they need is to believe whatever Pastor Dave tells them to believe.
2006-07-25 09:36:10 · answer #9 · answered by Mr. Bojangles 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Once, one christian told me Nietzsche believed in god, his argument was "If he wrote The Antichrist, he obviously believed in god and the christ".
Einstein was a christian, Darwin recanted, Spinoza proved God's (the christian one) existence...
What's next? Saying Bertrand Russell stated that mathematics are of the devil?
2006-07-25 10:59:28 · answer #10 · answered by Oedipus Schmoedipus 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋