I was reading the answers to an earlier question in this section and one of the respondents declared that Albert Einstein was a christian (in support of religion).
Is this true? I find it hard to believe that such an intelligent man could believe in such rhubarb!
2007-07-15 07:11:57 · 40 answers · asked by dougietrotter1945 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Einstein was neither a christian nor an atheist... I can provide some quotes... being a bit of a fan of his... lol
"I cannot conceive of a personal god who would directly influence the actions of individuals."
"My religiosity consists of a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we can comprehend of the knowable world."
"I am not an Atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a pantheist. The problem involved is far too vast for our limited minds."
2007-07-15 07:14:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 11⤊ 0⤋
I would not claim to be more intelligent than Albert Einstein. I will also not claim, like so many do, to know what Einstein believed. I can not read his mind or ask him about his beliefs personally, so I can only draw conclusions from the historical records we have regarding Einstein. The research I have done indicates that Einstein was a deist, not a theist. This means that Einstein believed in a creator of the universe, but did not believe in a personal, theistic god. Therefore, while his opinion differs from atheists, it also differs from Christians. So do Christians think they are smarter than Einstein? On a side not, most atheists I know scoff at a theistic viewpoint. We view a deistic viewpoints as a reasonable, albeit unsubstantiated viewpoint. We admit deistic viewpoints are possible, but they lack evidence. It is theistic viewpoints, such as Christianity, that are so ridiculous that we feel safe in claiming intellectual superiority!
2016-05-18 02:49:51 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically no, but he once said his view on religion were close to another man's views and that man had nice things to say about Jesus.
Einstein, I guess, was a type of diest. A believer in God, one God, a God, but he was not overly religious and didn't adhere to any specific belief system.
But he did view God has having a say in the universe. One of his most famous lines that opposed the Randomists was:
God doesn't play dice.
He didn't believe in a random, cosmic casino that threw a lucky 7 and made the universe.
He viewed the universe as having order, rules and possibly even a consciencousness of some type.
He viewed his job and the job of scientists to simply explain some of the rules and how they work, so that maybe you might be able to so something with that knowledge.
Most scientists don't really get into the mystical why, they are more concerned with the how.
If anything his views on religion were probably about how amazing the whole thing really is, how awesome the universe it when you really see it for what it is and he saw pretty far and pretty deep.
And he had a concept of God and it was his personally.
He openly said he was NOT an Atheist.
It's in writing.
2007-07-15 07:33:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is a difference between being a Christian and supporting the idea of religion. A recent article in Time magazine outlined Einstein's perspective on religion and faith. Three quotes from that article seem particularly relevant to this question...
"...I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."
"science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
and last but not least,
"I am not an atheist."
Was Einstein a Christian? Not my place to judge, but throughout his life and writings he made it clear that he did believe that the universe was too perfect to have come about by chance. When asked if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, Einstein replied, ""Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."
Personally, what I find hard to believe is that intelligent people chose to believe that God could NOT exist. When I look around and see all the marvelous complexity of the universe, it just doesn't make sense to believe that it all came about through random chance!
2007-07-15 07:46:27 · answer #4 · answered by KAL 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
No, he was not. The reports I have seen from valid news agencies over the years investigating this, is that he came to believe there some a creator, but he was not willing to call it god or a god, but only a creator.
That is a long way away from being a
Christian.
I left Christianity, but I believe in the Creator. At the moment I choose to call the Creator the Goddess. Along with her consort the God.
Many people believe there is something of intelligence that created life, but do not know exactly what.
BB
2007-07-15 07:35:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might find it hard to believe in such "rhubarb", but perhaps someone as intelligent as Albert Einstein finds it less hard. It's "rhubarb" to you, but perhaps it wasn't to him. It's obvious from the quotes that he put a lot of thought into these things.
I doubt that Einstein (being Jewish) was a Christian though!
2007-07-15 07:49:50 · answer #6 · answered by Martin 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, Einstein was not a christian, although he moved to America and was subject to attempts by the right wing lunatics and rabid christians to get him to convert he was not a christian and did not believe in such superstitious nonsense.
2007-07-15 08:25:52 · answer #7 · answered by Stephen P 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I used Albert Einstein in a answer, and never claimed him to be a Christian. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to Einstein. Many Atheist will either claim that he was a pantheist or an atheist. Einstein denied both of these claims, and expressed annoyance with atheist. However, he wasn't a christian either. He did, however, say that he was "enthralled with the nazarene". Anyway, Einstein in his own words said he believed in God, but not a personal one. This is according to some of his works, one entitled "what I believe". There is a good article in a recent Time magazine. However, I believe I am the person you are referencing, and I never claimed he was a Christian. When I have talked about Einstein I have either said he was a deist, that he was annoyed with atheist, that he was awed by the complete harmony of the cosmos, or that he was fascinated by Jesus Christ, all of which are quotes from him. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings, and if I have gave any other impression I apologize.
2007-07-15 07:20:28 · answer #8 · answered by travis w 2 · 5⤊ 3⤋
Einstein is said to have held a concept of God similar to that promulgated by Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Einstein studied Spinoza and identified with Spinoza both culturally and philosophically. The Encyclopedia Britannica says of him: "Firmly denying atheism, Einstein expressed a belief in 'Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the harmony of what exists.' This actually motivated his interest in science, as he once remarked to a young physicist: 'I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.' Einstein's famous epithet on the 'uncertainty principle' was 'God does not play dice.'"
I would say that he definitely was an agnostic.
atheist (THINK)
2007-07-15 07:28:39 · answer #9 · answered by AuroraDawn 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
After humans cross certain levels of intelligence, There is no chance that they can even agree or believe in Christianity.
So definitely Einstein was not. He was Jew by birth and later tried to bring an understanding of god by his own intelligence.
-- deito
2007-07-17 02:30:53 · answer #10 · answered by deito 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋