Are Hawking and Einstein atheists?

Question

Einstein said this "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.... I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our being."

regarding Hawking: By the time he was 13, Hawking's hero was the atheist philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell. At the same age, two of Hawking's friends became Christians as a result of the 1955 Billy Graham London campaign. According to his 1992 biographers, Hawking stood apart from these encounters with "a certain amused detachment." There is nothing in A Brief History of Time that deviates in a significant way from the religious views of the 13-year old Stephen Hawking.

Answer 1

They have to be. No intelligent person believes in God.

Answer 2

Why? Cause they are smart?

Cause they saw more of the universe then most?

Albert Einstein was Jewish. (German born.)

**** You state:

"Einstein said this "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.... I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our being."

Now, if we look CLOSELY, it says, "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist." And in THAT, he would be correct, AS A JEW DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, so, thus the JESUITS would believe he was an atheist. NOT THAT HE WAS AN ATHEIST. He was Jewish. NOT an atheist."

****

As for Hawking, he was once quoted as saying: "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." So, I guess that means he ISN'T an atheist.

**** You state:

regarding Hawking: By the time he was 13, Hawking's hero was the atheist philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell. At the same age, two of Hawking's friends became Christians as a result of the 1955 Billy Graham London campaign. According to his 1992 biographers, Hawking stood apart from these encounters with "a certain amused detachment." There is nothing in A Brief History of Time that deviates in a significant way from the religious views of the 13-year old Stephen Hawking.

Sooooo???? His idol, Bertrand Russell was an atheist? And?? Two of his friends "became Christians" after a Billy Graham campaign??? Became Christian AFTER they were originally WHAT? So? Would you have been surprised if his two friends robbed a store, and he "stood by with a certain amused detacthment"??

Your argument is... well... STUPID.


This is an argument similar to the one "Kennedy should NOT be President! He's Catholic!"

So WHAT!!??!!

The PROBLEM with people like you is that when people see things BIGGER then you do (such as an ever expanding universe) YOU think THEY are a problem.

Look, cry me a river, build a bridge, and get the hel*l over it!!!

Answer 3

I imagine Einsteinwas an agnostic, based only on your quote of him. However, I've seen interviews with Hawking on tv, and in one he said that the more he learns about the universe, the closer he feels to God... meaning, I suppose, that by studying the laws of Nature, we are able to better understand the will of God and His Plan. I personally see nothing in conflict between being a scientist and being a spiritualist or a religious person. During the Rennaisance, many scientists were studying the universe in a new way specifically so that they COULD better understand God...

Answer 4

"Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." I believe this quote was originally said by Neils Bohr many many years ago, not Stephen Hawking. Had it not been for Einstein's beliefs, he would have easily come up with String/Membrane theory which is debated today.

Answer 5

Well Einstein mentioned God specifically in some of his quotes,so probably not;as for Hawking,I couldn't find anything about his religoius preferance, but I imagine he believes in God to.

Answer 6

Your question is a little facile. Einstein grappled with religion his whole life. See his book, In My Later Years, for a discussion. I would say he was not. Hawking is harder to pin down, but he has been quoted as referencing a god (e.g.,
"Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen."). This was, itself, a response to Einstein's oft-quoted statement, "God does not play dice." It is never so simple!

Answer 7

Einstein told the developer of quantum mechanics that he simply did not feel that God made the universe with a roll of the dice. To which the creator of quantum mechanics replied "Who are you to tell God how to create the universe?"

Answer 8

if they were religious they wouldnt care to know how the universe works. they would just accept the theory that the earth is flat, the sun revolves around us, the heavens are perfect, and evolution is silly. religion is just a way to explain things to ppl not smart enuff to comprehend the organized and predictable chaos that we live in. we dont know everything that will happen but if we knew everything that happened before it we could predict time thru infinity

Answer 9

Hawking is an atheist

Answer 10

Hi. I'm sorry but I have to ask, what is the difference? What ones personal belief is has not impact on mathematics, and both of these individuals were primarily mathematicians.