2006-11-08 01:43:35 · 15 answers · asked by George E 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Einsteins parents were jewish but he never claimed to be jewish himself. In fact, he never claimed to be a part of any organised religion. He did invoke the name of God numerous times but it was in more of a Panthiestic sense than a personal one, and incidently he is not the only atheistic scientist to have done so. Stephen Hawkings was known to have done the same in saying "when we know the mind of god"..which has been notoriously misconstrued. The confusion about Einsteins beliefs lies in a failure to distinguish between what can be called Einsteinian religion and supernatural religion.
Einstein was known to say "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" and "God does not play dice" (which can be translated as "randomness does not lie at the heart of all things".)Did he contradict himself by saying such things, and does this mean that his quotes can be picked apart to support both sides of the argument? No. Einstein's interpretation of the word religion is entirely different to the conventional one. Einstein used the word God in a purely metaphorical, poetic sense..as did Hawkings.
In 1940, just to clear things up, once and for all, Einstein wrote a famous paper to justify his earlier statement "i do not believe in a personal god" for which he was berated and condescended by a number of the 'faithful'.
The metaphorical or pantheistic god of people like Einstein is light years away from the interventionist, miracle wreaking, thought reading, sin-punishing, prayer answering God of the bible, of priests, mullahs and rabbis, and of ordinary language. To confuse the two is, in my opinion, an act of intellectual high treason.
2006-11-08 05:41:48 · answer #1 · answered by immortal.beloved 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No he wasn't. Though he was often quoted using the word "god", he used it metaphorically, to describe the laws of nature and physics.
"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 egotisms." -Albert Einstein
"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere.... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
-- Albert Einstein, The World as I See It
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.
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press
2006-11-08 09:55:01 · answer #2 · answered by Moo i'm a cow 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't think so. I believe he was an evolutionist.
However he did come up with the theory of Intelligent Design. For Einstein, ID could explain what he saw in nature and the universe that evolution could not. Many laughed at him then. Today that idea has gained popularity in scientific circles once again.
ID is not a Creationist theory. Creationist believe it is a good step in the right direction, but not good enough.
2006-11-08 09:50:37 · answer #3 · answered by Desperado 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Einstein was Jewish.
This is why he had to leave Germany; his life was in danger.
2006-11-08 09:57:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, he wasn't Jewish or Zorarostrian either. Einstein found god n natural law.
2006-11-08 09:46:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He was Jewish by heritage but did not believe in a personal God. The site below has many of his quotes on religion, categorized so that they are easy to follow.
2006-11-08 09:48:37 · answer #6 · answered by Kathryn™ 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Einstein was a deist.
2006-11-08 09:49:48 · answer #7 · answered by metavariable 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Why do you think he left Germany? He is famous for saying, "God does not play dice with the universe". Which is why he refused the Heisenberg Theory of Uncertainty.
2006-11-08 09:50:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a Christian he was an Agnostic Jew
2006-11-08 09:45:55 · answer #9 · answered by King 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe he was Christian. I have read things to the contrary. He was Jewish.
2006-11-08 09:51:35 · answer #10 · answered by RB 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋