Did Einstein believe in GOD?

Answer 1

We should let AE speak for himself, as several posters have done. I guess we'd have to say whether we think he believes in "God" depends on OUR understanding of the word "God", since so many people judge him based on their own ideas, as though they were gifted with the ultimate truth. A more fruitful discussion might concern itself with a study of his understanding of God.

Answer 2

The phrase "knowing the mind of God" does not necessarily mean that literally. Nor does it necessarily mean a person believes in God. The point of the phrase is to know the workings of the Universe. The phrase "God does not play dice" refers to the Universe as operating in an organized and predictable way and it is not random. Only Einstein could answer this question for sure, but my guess would be NO.

Answer 3

No,
Here are some 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 religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side

"I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil."
Albert Einstein, as quoted in a memoir by Life editor William Miller in Life, May 2, 1955

Answer 4

Yes, he did believe in God. He might have been considered a Deist. He believed in an impersonal God, but most definitely was not an atheist as some of these other answers have stated. My source link has some good info on the matter.

Answer 5

What were Albert Einstein's religious beliefs? That is an
interesting question because he used the word "God" a lot. As Carl Sagan so truly points out (check _Broca's_Brain_)whether or not one
believes in "God" depends on what one means by the word "God."When that question was put to him, Einstein once responded, "I
believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony in
what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions
of human beings."

Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher in the 1600's(?) who used the
word "God" to denote some mystical cosmic unity, and who talked
endlessly about the "intellectual love of God." However, he was
excommunicated by the Jewish community in Holland, who placed on him
the curses that Elisha placed on the children who teased him about his
baldness. We are told that 42 of these children were killed by two
bears. However, no bears attacked Spinoza. He was branded an atheist
for the next couple centuries to come. However, in the nineteenth
century, some of his admirers started calling him the "God-intoxicated
man"

Back to Einstein. He wrote an article for the _New York Times_
expounding his religious beliefs (reprinted in _Ideas and Opinions_).
He spoke of himself as having a "cosmic religious sense," which knows
"no dogmas and no God made in man's image," which he said was shared
with the great mystics; he compared himself with the likes of
Democritus, St. Francis, and Spinoza. He also commented that one must
have a poor moral sense if the only way one could act virtuously is if
one expect rewards and punishments after death.

In another article (reprinted in _Ideas and Opinions_) stated
that the concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-benevolent
being runs afoul of the Problem of Evil. He also stated that the
dominant religions of our part of the world could do without this
particular concept. He seemed to feel that one could not conclusively
_disprove_ the existence of such a being, but felt that there was no
positive reason to believe that one exists, so he did not believe in
the existence of any such being.

All in all, he seemed very tolerant about this sort of thing;
he expressed sympathy with someone who considered "religion" a
turn-off.

His reception from the clergy was mixed. Rabbi Herbert
Goldstein, who had popped The Question, seemed satisfied that Einstein
was a believer in God. The Rabbi Nathan Krass said that "the religion
of Albert Einstein will not be approved by certain sectarians but it
must and will be approved by the Jews." However, Cardinal O'Connor of
Boston had denounced General Relativity for years, saying that it
"cloaked the ghastly apparition of atheism" and that it was "befogged
speculation, producing universal doubt about God and His Creation."
Dr. Fulton Sheen told members of the Catholic Teachers Association
that the _Times_ had "degraded itself" by publishing Einstein's views,
saying that they were "the sheerest kind of stupidity and nonsense."
He asked if anyone would be willing to lay down their life for the
Milky Way, and concluded: "There is only one fault with his cosmical
religion: he put an extra letter in the word -- the letter 's'"

I think it would have been fun to do unto Dr. Fulton Sheen as
he has done unto Albert Einstein (yes, I know it's King James English,
but I think you people can get the point) -- and crack raunchy jokes
about the Virgin Birth -- for example, God was commenting to his
angels that he could never forget that time he had an affair with that
nice Jewish girl -- they've been talking about it down there ever
since.

And what about the Vatican's conference about 10 years ago
honoring Albert Einstein? It seems strange that the Pope should honor
someone who he would almost certainly consider a severe heretic --
after all, he rejected a benevolent Providence and Heaven and Hell,
and seemed to support some kind of pantheism -- or even agnosticism or
atheism.

^

Let's hear what Albert himself has said about his alleged theism:



"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religous 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."

Answer 6

Einstein himself said:

"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that pheonomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details."

I would say he did believe in God, but that his immersion in matters purely mathematic/scientific/physcial makes it appear that he were searching for mere material truth at the expense of faith in a God.

Answer 7

Faith escaped him for the most part. Everything had to be proven because he was a scientist and had an IQ of around 200. One of the things I found most interesting was he tried and tried to understand the Trinity, but, of course, with no sucess. Why that since he was Jewish? That's a mystery to me.

Answer 8

Hi. Yes he did. He was opposed to quantum mechanics because he felt " God does not play dice with the universe."

Answer 9

yes he did, but not in a personal god, when talking about heizenbergs uncertainty principle he said "God doesnt play dice with the universe"

Answer 10

http://www.ctinquiry.org/publications/reflections_volume_1/torrance.htm

He was born to secular Jewish parents, but later seemed to enjoy reading the bible.. there is so much information on the link above - read it, it will answer the question by far better than me..

enjoy!!