Christians, why are you LYING about Albert Einstein?

Question

Here are quotes from Albert Einstein

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, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930

[Passage]
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, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930

Answer 1

Science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

I can't answer with a simple yes or no. I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvellously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza's pantheism, but admire even more his contributions to modern thought because he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and the body as one, not two separate things.

Answer 2

"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."

Answer 3

Why are Christian's the one who are lying? It seems to me, Albert had many quotes that could go one way or the other.

"When a doctoral student at Princeton ask ed, "What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?" Albert Einstein replied, 'Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer." Cited in Leadership Journal, 1983, 43

Answer 4

Yes, he believed in G-d and a creator, just not a personal G-d. Probably cuz he was of Jewish background.

Einstein was Jewish but had been educated at a Catholic school. When rabbis and priests came to congratulate him on his discovery of God, he replied that he was convinced that the God that brought the universe into existence was intelligent and creative, but he denied that God was personal. He couldn't get beyond the paradox of God's omnipotence and man's responsibility for his choices:

"If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him?"
Unfortunately, none of the rabbis or priests could provide him a satisfactory answer, rather they said that God had not yet revealed the answer and that he should blindly trust Him.

Einstein could not accept that answer and did not pursue the idea of a personal God any further. He held to the idea of an intelligent Creator but never accepted the idea of a personal God.

Answer 5

Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated. The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious. It is the underlying principle of religion as well as all serious endeavour in art and science. He who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is something that our mind cannot grasp and whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly and as a feeble reflection, this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious. To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that is there.- Albert Einstien


Famous Scientists?
Why is it that one of the most famous scientists this world had were true believers in God? Like for instance Newton and Instien. And all this other scientists just works off of what they created.

Science without Religion is LAME, religion without science is BLIND.- Albert Eistien

Personal God no, God yes.

Answer 6

Albert Einstine is not my God. Neither are othe famous MEN in all of history. Ceaser, Lennon, Marx, Hitler, Mussilini, even those like Washington, Lincoln are not my God or gods. Men can try to give good things but some are misled and what they give or do is anything but good. Did Hitler think what he was doing was right and good? Was it? I'm not going to get into a debate over creation vs evolution but I believe in creation is the Bible displays. I believe in God. What's wrong with the rules God has set down? You shall not steal. Is that a bad rule or commandment? Is stealing a good thing to do? Why would a good God have punishment for unbelief, a life full of unrepented sin, not accepting the way of salvation He offers, disobeying the commandments,??
Why? Let me ask. Do you drive the speed limit because it's the proper, safest way to drive? Or only because if you get caught speeding it will cost you some money? Our own liws have a penalty if they are broken. Don't pay your taxes, steal a car, lie in court, will you suffer a penalty for doing these things? What kind of law, how good is a law, how well kept is a law, that has no repercussion if not followed? If there were no fine or repercussion for stealing things, why not steal? Why pay your own money for things if you can steal them, get them for free, and face no penalty if caught? We are told about God, what God has and will do, as well as we are told of Jesus sacrifice for us in the Bible. There is no merit of our own accord for these things. Jesus gave His life to save us. We can't save ourselves and we don't deserve our salvation...we didn't EARN it. It's a gift. We're told what we can expect if we don't accept what has been freely given us. It's not a hard thing to do. The wages of sin is death. Meaning, the penalty for unrepenant sin, for not confessing our wrongs and not asking for/receiving Gods forgivness will result in death. Death and damnation. Why not accept what is freely given?

Answer 7

The paraphased "God doesn't play dice with the universe" bit works so well as an attack on evolution when taken out of context.

Quote mining and revisionist history are Creationist staples. Don't blame all Cristians for the actions of the extreme.

Answer 8

You quote Albert Einstein.

I will quote God.

A fool hath said in his heart their is no God.

I can quote people too, but what is truth? Truth is not relative. If there isn't a God, rest assured it will be proven to all eventually. If there is a God, you are making yourself look ignorant by pitching a hissy fit about it.

Answer 9

Sympathy, social ties, morality, these are all soul commodities. Without a soul there would be no need for the aforementioned qualities.

Answer 10

He has since changed his mind about the 'personal god', but not about the fear and punishment.