Einstein and his Faith

Einstein spoke of his feelings regarding Christianity in an interview with Time Magazine:

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."

And when asked if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, Einstein replied:

"Unquestionably!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6a401b58e3fe.jpg[/atsimg]

Einstein also said:

"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 makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views."

speaking of Atheists of course...

"The fanatical atheists, are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle. They are creatures who--in their grudge against traditional religion as the 'opium of the masses'-- cannot hear the music of the spheres."

"God does not play dice with the Universe"

1. Albert Einstein: From a Jesuit Viewpoint, I am an Atheist
I received your letter of June 10th. I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and 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.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Guy H. Raner Jr, July 2, 1945, responding to a rumor that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to convert from atheism; quoted by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic, Vol. 5, No. 2

2. Albert Einstein: Skepticism, Freethought Proceed from Seeing Falsehood of Bible
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 by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment - an attitude that has never again left me, even though, later on, it has been tempered by a better insight into the causal connections.
- Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp

3. Albert Einstein in Defense of Bertrand Russell
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, March 19, 1940. Einstein is defending the appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position.

4. Albert Einstein: Few People Escape the Prejudices of their Environment
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
- Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions (1954)

5. Albert Einstein: Human Value Depends on Liberation from the Self
The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.
- Albert Einstein, The World As I See It (1949)

6. Albert Einstein: Nonbelievers Can Be Bigoted Like Believers
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer.
- Albert Einstein, quoted in: Einstein's God - Albert Einstein's Quest as a Scientist and as a Jew to Replace a Forsaken God (1997)

7. Albert Einstein: I am Not a Crusading, Professional 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 the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.

Einstein was a agnostic atheist. He contemplated a greater order to things that are outside of our silly human understandings, but make no mistake, he found our earth religions to be childlike and silly.

He also found hard atheists annoying as they weilded it as a religion unto itself and demanded nothing.

Very interesting post. Star and flag.

I have always had trouble accepting our Universe as it is without an intelligence that permeates it. I can't really even accept the existence of consciousness without 'reason' behind it. Some would read this and say that it is only because I do not understand or know how to explain consciousness. That may be true, but I don't feel lonely, because I have yet to hear a valid explanation of the existence of consciousness.

I have yet to hear a valid explanation of the existence of consciousness.

Thats a philosophical matter. What is consciousness?
break it down into actual points that doesn't have any connection with the basics
aka, food, shelter, clothing, procreation

I also believe in the historical existence of Jesus.

Einstein was actually very spiritual. A few more Einstein quotes:

"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.." (Albert Einstein, 1954)

"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".

Source

And the "music of the spheres" quote (since you didn't source your material ):

"Then there are the fanatical atheists whose intolerance is the same as that of the religious fanatics, and it springs from the same source . . . They are creatures who can't hear the music of the spheres."

it still will not negate the facts and his words he spoke to time magazine, for his sincere dislike of Atheist also... I believe alot of people who have said they read all these Einstein books actually have not read them at all. I have read one book about him and came to a completely different conclusion than most people who do not believe Einstein thought of a creator.

In fact he found evidence in the Harmony and total awe of how it could all be possible.

Not many people know this but Isaac Newton wrote over a million words of text about the bible. Newton wrote books on the Prophecy of Daniel - it's extremely hard reading but he really knew his stuff.

A genuine search for the truth always bends towards the bible.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I also believe in the historical existence of Jesus.

Jesus was God come into flesh...

God does not play dice with the Universe

Einstein is ours... just like Newton

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
it still will not negate the facts and his words he spoke to time magazine, for his sincere dislike of Atheist also...

Where does he say he dislikes atheists? He WAS an atheist!

Here's the actual dice quote:

Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the "old one." I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.

Source
Are you using that piece of crap Conservapedia again!?!?

reply to post by SaturnFX
Is it a philosophical matter to explain how a mixture of chemicals and electrical impulses can be aware of their surroundings and themselves?

If it is just the electrical impulses, does a conductor carrying a current have awareness?

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
Jesus was God come into flesh...

You're entitled to believe that. I do not. Jesus was a man.

Please List Your Source for the info in the OP!

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

Originally posted by Cosmic.Artifact
it still will not negate the facts and his words he spoke to time magazine, for his sincere dislike of Atheist also...

Where does he say he dislikes atheists? He WAS an atheist!

Here's the actual dice quote:

Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the "old one." I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.

Source
Are you using that piece of crap Conservapedia again!?!?

edit on 12/21/2010 by Benevolent Heretic because: (no reason given)

You should know by now there will be no rational discussion found here. Its the mindset. You could resurrect Einstein and make him answer directly and it wouldn't change the minds of the radical theists.

There is evidence of Jesus, yes. There is no evidence of his miracles, resurrection, etc...that is just embellished nonsense the church tacked on.
What there is evidence of, is of the carpenter that spoke against the established religion due to their hypocracy, and had some wild views of established hebrew law.
He got killed for it

many years after the event, like a story with time, the story gets better and better. (luckily they didn't write lightning shot out of his eyes and he flew)

Its why the jews think of him as a teacher and anti-establishment philosopher..not the messiah. They were the ones that actually dealt with him

That is the historical account of him. Good guy for the time..

I wonder if martin luther king will be considered a messiah in a hundred or two years, imbued with magical powers.

reply to post by Cosmic.Artifact


1: You didn't source a single quote you provided, how am I to know if any of them are fabrications? Lies about the religion of Einstein spread even in his life, exhibit A:

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.
Letter to an atheist (1954) as quoted in Albert Einstein: The Human Side (1981) edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman ISBN 0691023689

2: You are arguing against a man who is an explicit agnostic, exhibit B:

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 the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.
Letter to Guy H. Raner Jr. (28 September 1949), from article by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1997)

3: Einstein was also a determinist, exhibit C:

I am a determinist. I do not believe in free will. Jews believe in free will. They believe that man shapes his own life. I reject that doctrine. In that respect I am not a Jew.
Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, p. 387

So Einstein was not a theist, he was not a believer in any sort of Abrahamic deity, but he was an agnostic and a determinist.

-1 flag.

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Is it a philosophical matter to explain how a mixture of chemicals and electrical impulses can be aware of their surroundings and themselves?

Actually yes..not the mechanics, but what it produces. Are we an advanced piece of biotechnology, or are we a ghost in a glop of mud. What is consciousness...

If it is just the electrical impulses, does a conductor carrying a current have awareness?

Good question...but such speculation is anthropomorphism, which is something I try not to consider much in any factual basis

Once again, it's hard to disagree with Einstein.

reply to post by SaturnFX

I wonder if martin luther king will be considered a messiah in a hundred or two years, imbued with magical powers.

You never know, but Martin Luther (not King) has certainly had time enough since he bucked 'the system' and he hasn't gained any magical powers. If anything, his branch of Christianity still rebukes the Pope for claiming more of those 'magical powers' than he really has.

I read a story once where some guy thought that there could be a new religion spring up around Elvis Presley.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
So Einstein was not a theist, he was not a believer in any sort of Abrahamic deity, but he was an agnostic and a determinist.

Speaking on a basic level, can there actually be chaos? every single thing is simply a reaction from other reactions going back to the beginning (big bang). action, reaction...is consciousness and free will just an illusion and we are simply a product of reactions...a pool ball shooting and bouncing across the table seeing no pattern only because they cannot see the greater physics involved...

-ponders n stuff-

I like to entertain the universe as a simple movie that has a absolute beginning, middle, and end...and everything in between is set in stone as just a reaction, be it an asteroid falling to a planet, a wisp of wind across the surface of a planet, a solar flare, or someone on earth choosing a cup of tea verses coffee...all just mapped out reactions that cannot change. Even though my pea brain opposes this and demands free will, if you look at things logically, all there can be is just reactions without thought. free will makes no sense in a universe bound by physics.

Originally posted by SaturnFX

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

Is it a philosophical matter to explain how a mixture of chemicals and electrical impulses can be aware of their surroundings and themselves?

Actually yes..not the mechanics, but what it produces. Are we an advanced piece of biotechnology, or are we a ghost in a glop of mud. What is consciousness...

If it is just the electrical impulses, does a conductor carrying a current have awareness?

Good question...but such speculation is anthropomorphism, which is something I try not to consider much in any factual basis

Science should be able to answer these questions. It is not a philosophic matter to question how the mixture of chemicals that make up our bodies can be aware of its own existence.

Originally posted by butcherguy
I read a story once where some guy thought that there could be a new religion spring up around Elvis Presley.

He was the king...I heard he sung directly to the soul of people (or was it he sang soul..meh, details).

-creates a shrine-