Einstein was a deist. Why do so many claim he suffered from religion? From what I've read he apparently believed in a creator, but he never said anything supporting the bible or any religion. Am I wrong?
2007-05-29 08:00:15 · 11 answers · asked by Miltant_Agnostic 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Einstein quotes:
I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.
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.
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.
I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent, been placed in doubt by modern science. [He was speaking of Quantum Mechanics and the breaking down of determinism.] My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Morality is of the highest importance -- but for us, not for God.
And the total clincher. After it was claimed that he was a Christian:
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.
2007-05-29 08:10:58 · answer #1 · answered by Simon T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I hear people say all the time that Einstein was a "Deist" and there is no proof to back that up at all. If he said "I do not believe in a personal god" then that doesn't necessarily mean he believed in a god that wasn't personal. It's really cloudy what he believed. I am of the opinion that he was probably agnostic, but he very well could have been an atheist who simply didn't want to be labeled as one (because of the stigma attached to that word).
But, he definitely was not religious.
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When he said things like "I'm convinced [god] doesn't play dice" he meant it metaphorically.
2007-05-29 15:06:00 · answer #2 · answered by A 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Thus I came--despite the fact I was the son of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents--to a deep religiosity, which, however, found an abrupt ending at the age of 12. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic [orgy of] freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived...Suspicion against every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude... has never left me..." - Einstein's 1949 Autobiographical notes.
The Bog Nug also gives a good quote, which was a letter he wrote near the end of his life (I think around 1952 or 53?)
2007-05-29 15:03:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The question of scientific determinism gave rise to questions about Einstein's position on theological determinism, and even whether or not he believed in God. In 1929, Einstein told Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein "I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."(Brian 1996, p. 127)
Einstein defined his religious views in a letter he wrote in response to those who claimed that he worshipped a Judeo-Christian god: "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."[35][36]
2007-05-29 15:09:38 · answer #4 · answered by AuroraDawn 7 · 1⤊ 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." [Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press]
That is a pretty clear quote of his intentions.
He was probably most accurately pantheist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism
2007-05-29 15:04:35 · answer #5 · answered by The Bog Nug 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description .. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. (Albert Einstein
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Theology-Albert-Einstein.htm
2007-05-29 15:03:20 · answer #6 · answered by nicky 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind"
I think Einstein believed in a higher force but didn't associate him self with religion. Below are some links to get you started.
2007-05-29 15:07:47 · answer #7 · answered by abstract_alao 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"I am a deeply religious non-believer. This is a somewhat new kind of religion."
He was a religious man -- he had rituals and he enjoyed them and found 'spiritual' fulfillment in them. Many of them looked quite mundane from the outside -- long walks with fellow acadamians was one of them. But he did not worship. That's the big difference.
Ritual can exist void of faith. One simply acknowledges the personal impact of those rituals without vesting them in an 'Other'.
2007-05-29 15:04:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No you are right. He was not a believer in a personal god at all. Here is about everything the guy wrote on the subject: http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/
2007-05-29 15:04:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
"I do not believe in a personal god." -Einstein
He was widely criticized at the time for not believing. Funny how people still think he did.
2007-05-29 15:07:58 · answer #10 · answered by eri 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋