Who wants to know what Einstein really thought about god?

Question

Once again, it's time to clear up the misconceptions about Einstein. I just saw several of his quotes being misused.

As much as god-believers would like to claim him as their own, Einstein was not a religious man. He often used words like "god" and "religion" metaphorically.

In Einstein's OWN WORDS, "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."

Some people say he was a pantheist, and I think that fits with what I've read of him. Pantheism is the belief that the entire universe is god.

the reason I ask is so that people will think. I'm not looking for a specific answer. It's wrong to distort someone's views to further your own agenda.

Answer 1

Einstein was very much against RELIGION. Although he did NOT believe in a personal God, he did believe in a cosmic God. Some of my favorite quotes on the subject of religion are by Albert Einstein:

"Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust - we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."

"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."

"The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action."

Answer 2

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If this is about my use of saying Einstein believed in God you missed my point. Obviously your question is debatable. I didn't base my dichotomy on a false assumption. I know logically there are other possible answers out there to the meaning of life and existence, but not for me and I just have the gist of it and not the details.

What I was trying to say about your question about reasoned faith and blind faith was that you sounded, yes sounded, like you were saying if you believe in a God or Jesus or Bhudda that you disavowed reason.

Disawowing reason seems more apt for scientists sticking to a dogmatic view of the universe, which as time goes on requires more faith to support their dichotomy.

I am of the view that to find spiritual truth it's not going to come from debating. It will come from a peronal spiritual experience. There was a time that I believed mostly nothing that was written in the bible. It was nothing more than a brief inaccurate history to me.

My experiences have taught me different. I consider myself a reasoning, logical person. When you throw out the impossible what's left over, however improbable, must be the possible. You can't argue with that. That's from Star Trek.

Things are debatable, but just because someone believes in something that cannot be disproved does not make them unreasoned. Again I say, It's what I read into reading your question so to speak.

Answer 3

Einstein spoke of God but not in the sense of orthodox religion. His concept of God related to “the infinitely superior spirit” he saw revealed in nature.

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”—Albert Einstein.

At best, to Einstein He was but a pantheistic god. A pantheistic god? Yes, for the term “pantheism” comes from two roots meaning “all” and “god,” and so is defined as “a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe.”

Albert Einstein said, according to Life magazine of May 2, 1955: “I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. . . . I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death, or blind faith.”

In a letter published by the magazine Physics Today, a member of Rutgers University wrote about her impressions of Albert Einstein’s letters to his ‘old crony,’ Michele Besso. In her opinion, the letters showed that Einstein studied “God’s works . . . in the laws of physics. There are numerous references to Jehovah in the letters.”

Answer 4

You know, I think trying to fight the atheist battle that most scientists are atheists by answering "Einstein" believed in God is inherently flawed.
I made my decisions based solely upon the evidence available, checked and cross referenced every claim presented to me as arguments for and against, and came to a clear conclusion.
I respect every-ones' right to draw their own conclusions and do think it nothing less than inadequate to base a belief system on something because, Einstein believed, or "most scientists are atheist type arguments.
These types of reasoning suggest the presenter of such an argument really has not thought for themselves in quite some time.

Answer 5

Thanks. I hate seeing Einstein's words get twisted for the benefit of fundamentalists.

A few more choice quotes:

"I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one."

"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."

"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 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. ... 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."

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

Interestingly, the one religion Einstein did have good things to say about was Buddhism:

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."

"If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

Thanks for setting the record straight.

Answer 6

Yep. Here are some more quotes from the man himself:

"I have never talked to a Jesuit prest in my life. I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. 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 religious indoctrination received in youth."

"During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution, human fantasy created gods in man's own image who, by the operations of their will were supposed to determine, or at any rate influence, the phenomenal world... The idea of God in the religions taught at present is a sublimation of that old conception of the gods. Its anthropomorphic character is shown, for instance, by the fact that men appeal to the Divine Being in prayers and plead for the fulfillment of their wishes... In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vase power in the hands of priests."

"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?"

"I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil."

"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."

"The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action."

"I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos."

"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."

"The idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I am unable to take seriously."

"The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it."

"[My] deep religiosity... found an abrupt ending at the age of twelve, through the reading of popular scientific books."

"The idea of a Being who interferes with the sequence of events in the world is absolutely impossible."

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism...."


I believe he was a pantheist, or a deist.

Answer 7

In Time magazine in 1940, Einstein heavily praised the Catholic Church -- he said that it was the world's only institution that stood up to Hitler and to the evil that Nazism represented.

This doesn't tell us what he thought of God, of course, but it does tell us that he held the Catholic Church in very, very high esteem -- for its actions if not for its theology.

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Answer 8

Albert Einstein was born in 1879 of secular Jewish parents who lived in Ulm and then in Munich, where he went to school. There in accordance with state law he had to be instructed in his faith; he was taught Judaism because of his ethnic heritage. By the age of twelve Einstein became deeply religious, combining ardent belief in God with a passion for the music of Mozart and Beethoven. He composed songs to the glory of God which he sang aloud to himself on his way to and from school. That was a quote from one of his colleagues, google Einstein, belief in God, you will find many quotes to prove he did in fact believe in God.

Answer 9

I believe firmly in God, but I agree; it doesn't do any good to misrepresent someones views.

Answer 10

Einstein was Jewish. He wasn't devout but his beliefs leaned in that direction.