So I’ve had quite a few people try to tell me that Albert Einstein was a Christian. As one person commented on the blog: something along the lines of, “Einstein was a Christian, what makes you think you’re smarter than him?” It was of course riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes and likely came from a 14 year old that really didn’t know much about Einstein at all. I never claimed to be smarter than Einstein, as I definitely am not - the large majority of people aren’t. In any case I responded with a quote that should have shaken her off of any notion that Einstein is a Christian.
I’ve decided to post some of his quotes - as many of them are very interesting.
“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.”
This was a response to an atheist who wrote him questioning his famous quote, “I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos.”
“Why do you write to me ‘God should punish the English’? I have no close connection to either one or the other. I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him.”
“I do not believe that a man should be restrained in his daily actions by being afraid of punishment after death or that he should do things only because in this way he will be rewarded after he dies. This does not make sense. The proper guidance during the life of a man should be the weight that he puts upon ethics and the amount of consideration that he has for others.”
“The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.”
Hmm, this is an interesting one - anyone have any thoughts on this?
“I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar.”
“Mere unbelief in a personal God is no philosophy at all.”
Also interesting and relevant to atheism I think. Of course, many of us probably have our own personal philosophies that extend beyond unbelief.
“My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.”
“The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive.”
“It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I feel also not able to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem - the most important of all human problems.”
“I am a deeply religious nonbeliever…. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.”
This quote is quite interesting as it seems to be an argument that has arisen recently - is atheism a religion in itself?
“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.”
“I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it.”
“It is quite possible that we can do greater things than Jesus, for what is written in the Bible about him is poetically embellished.”
“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.”
To finish it off, I’ll leave this quote:
“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”
These quotes are in no way meant to “support” the idea that there is no God. They are simply meant to support the fact that Einstein was not a Christian and show how he felt about the world. I’m sure many of us feel the same way as many of these quotes show, so I posted this as an interesting glimpse of Einstein’s views.
If you’d like to read more pick up the book: The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
November 16th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Interesting, I didn’t know what Einstein thought about God.
As a Christian I agree with so much of what you quoted from him. No person should just live on blind faith, we should all pursue truth, whatever that is, wherever it is found (bits of truth are found in a range of places, including most/all religions). We should pursue what is good and most importantly, what is loving.
Our actions - as Christians or atheists or whatever we are - should be based in love and respect for others - never in a mere desire to escape eternal death or punishment. There are people who are Christians for a range or pretty lousy reasons. But there are a lot of people who are Christians for good reasons IMO, having tested Christianity and other belief systems, and having found it the most rational and ‘truthful’ explanation for life, and their personal experiences.
I enjoyed this article, thank you! I always find it funny when I agree with so much of what an atheist or agnostic (or a person from another religion) thinks. I think there is far, far more we have in common at the end of the day, than we have in differences.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
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December 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am
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January 9th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I always heard he was an agonostic. Maybe he was a little of both. Great article.
January 25th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
In my view and observation from the quotes of eintein his religion was none other than humanitarian. he believed in God at the same time he believed in the sacredness of human powers.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:56 am
It is better to be a human rather than differentiating in any kinda relation. We are born together even god has not distinguished between us so how can we distinguish between us.