Did Einstein believe in a "god" of some form?

Answer 1

Great Question!
Einstein was a deeply religious individual and wrote extensively about the philosophy of religion. Although he was born a Jew, his family was not particularly observant, choosing not to follow traditional dietary laws or attend religious services. They sent Albert to a Catholic public primary school at age six, though he did receive instruction in his own religion from a distant relative, as such instruction was compulsory in the state of Bavaria. When Einstein moved on to the Luitpold Gymnasium, he received the two hours of religious instruction per week that the school offered its Jewish pupils. Einstein studied the Ten Commandments, biblical history, and the rudiments of Hebrew grammar. Although he went through a strong religious phase as a child, his acquaintance with Max Talmud, the poor Jewish medical student who joined the Einstein family for a weekly meal, soon weakened his regard for traditional religion. Talmud recommended philosophical and popular scientific books that led Einstein to doubt the religious precepts he had been taught in school. Einstein began questioning the veracity of the Bible and discontinued the preparation for his bar mitzvah. Some biographers point to this early religious skepticism as the source of Einstein's freedom of thought and intellectual independence as a scientist; in any case, it is clear that his defiance of authority was to remain an important aspect of his thinking and his personality for the rest of his life.
Einstein remained indifferent to religious conventions and precepts throughout his adult life. His first wife, Mileva Maric, was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, and the marriage took place without the presence of a rabbi or a priest. Although the religious difference caused both sets of parents to object to the marriage, it did not trouble Einstein: he did not want his children to receive any form of religious instruction and the couple practiced no formal religion in their home. Additionally, Einstein asked to be cremated rather than buried in the Jewish tradition. Thus his disregard for religious rituals lasted his whole life.

Answer 2

Albert Einstein
I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details.

Albert Einstein
I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.

Albert Einstein
God is subtle but he is not malicious

these are quotes from Einstein so he believed in some sort of God to mention him I would think.

Answer 3

A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man. (Albert Einstein)

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)

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. (Albert Einstein)

Answer 4

"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."

Answer 5

I would think he was a Deist/Pantheist... He claimed he didn't believe in a Personal God (such as mainstream religions represent), but other quotes show him speaking of a God concept which was "nature" itself instead of being outside of creation.

Answer 6

My take is that he was a Pantheist. They believe that nature is god. So I guess that it depends on how far you allow the definition of god to stretch.

Answer 7

Pantheism -- akin to Spinoza.

No personal god.

Answer 8

yes, in his conception god is identical to the universe. It is not a person. This is called pantheism.

Answer 9

a god, yes.
a personal God, no.


he was pantheist, possibly Deist.


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Answer 10

don't know