What Albert Einstein said about Atheists

originally posted by: Akragon
a reply to: Elton

Heres a shocker...

Hes right... Jesus didn't ever claim to be God...

That came quite a bit after he died... and more so when the early church fathers got together and decided what they thought he was saying...

they were confused... just as the direct followers of Jesus were

No Jesus didnt claim to be God (But yes He did) His actions showed us He was God

You are confused, why was Christ crucified?

Last time I saw the #1 atheist in our world on TV, Stephen Hawking, he gained first physical superiority over a much younger and fitter colleague and, ended up beamed to the sky ... Not bad.

originally posted by: Akragon
a reply to: Elton

Heres a shocker...

Hes right... Jesus didn't ever claim to be God...

That came quite a bit after he died... and more so when the early church fathers got together and decided what they thought he was saying...

they were confused... just as the direct followers of Jesus were

You are wrong. It was not the early Fathers of the Church as you suggest. It was his apostles who said Jesus was God who came in the flesh.

And I am not giving any bible classes especially to atheist and non believers...... remember you don't want this pushed down you throat. You will have to read the bible yourself.

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
as much as they like tosay the know, religious people and atheists have no clue of what might (or might not) be out there in the vast cosmos.
Saying that you know something that cannot be known, one way or the other is arrogant to say the least.
Yey for us fence sitting agnostics i guess!

lol oh you 'agnostics'......always failing to realize that you're atheists by definition.....

This vid is a very good one to take into account when considering who Jesus was and said He was .

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
as much as they like tosay the know, religious people and atheists have no clue of what might (or might not) be out there in the vast cosmos.
Saying that you know something that cannot be known, one way or the other is arrogant to say the least.
Yey for us fence sitting agnostics i guess!

It's not arrogance. It's faith. Arrogance is when you get overbearing about it.

originally posted by: Akragon
a reply to: the2ofusr1

Right...

Like I said... HE did not ever claim to be God

Not Once...

I agree Meh .

I am gonna try once more to try to explain how someone/anyone can be connected to god but not be god:
Yeshua was a blessed One connected to the source of all/everything from my point of view. He was anointed and therefor saying I am and using the label Christ/Messiah is correct since it mean anointed. But Jesus is not the only blessed One.

Being one with god to your highest potential not make you the whole god even if you can connect to every part of god. The cell is a part of the body and can communicate with other parts of it but that do not make the cell the whole body even if it can get information from the whole body.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The whole you have to go thru me to go home is from my point of view you have to become in spirit like Yeshua to understand Yeshua. Taking up the cross and do the works.

Namaste.

a reply to: lonesomerimbaud

And because Einstein said this I'm supposed to believe it?

Sorry, there are people that have faith, there are people that have belief. I don't denegrate them, but because belief cannot be proven, I don't join them either.

Einstein certainly was not an atheist, but he wasn't a fan of classical religions either, as he saw them for what they are:

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.

About God, I cannot accept any concept based on the authority of the Church... As long as I can remember. I have resented mass indoctrination. I cannot prove to you there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him, I would be a liar. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws

The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve.

a reply to: lonesomerimbaud
I respect Einstein, and love reading quotes by him, but he was human, and therefore no more perfect than the rest of us. Like so many others, he seems to have had a misunderstanding of what an atheist is by definition.

Atheist = Lack of belief in deities.

That's it. Extremely simple. That is what athiests have in common. After that, we are as varied in our beliefs as xtians are, with their 34,000 sects, and growing.

originally posted by: lonesomerimbaud
"According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Einstein was more inclined to denigrate atheists than religious people. Einstein said in correspondence, "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 the traditional 'opium of the people'—cannot bear the music of the spheres." Although he did not believe in a personal God, he indicated that he would never seek to combat such belief because "such a belief seems to me preferable to the lack of any transcendental outlook."

and,

"Your question [about God] is the most difficult in the world. It is not a question I can answer simply with yes or no. I am not an Atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God".

That is what the Jewish Scientist Albert Einstein said. He did not believe in the traditional God as I do, but I utterly share his attitude to atheism. I'd rather someone believe in Satan than nothing at all personally. In India they call atheists "Hollow Men". I know it is terrible, but I find talking with people that believe in something far more entertaining than atheists. Nothing is as nothing does perhaps.

Interestingly, Albert Einstein said this about Jesus Christ,

"Einstein was then asked if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, to which he 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."

"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."

Well I am not letting anyone misquote you on this, Mr Einstein.

I have a deep love for this man and all he achieved. I agree it is all too vast and impenetrable to our limited human minds. That is why I look to experts and those are Prophets and Saints.

"Well I am not letting anyone misquote you on this, Mr Einstein."

yeah?

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.

direct quote.

a reply to: lonesomerimbaud

Einstein was dealing with his own set of circumstances involving religion. He was a Jew growing up in the ever increasing hostility of the (pseudo Christian) Nazi Regime. He was dealing with people like Robert Oppenheimer who quoted and claimed, " 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.", upon dropping the bombs, that Einstein help produce, on Japan!

There is no doubt that Albert Einstein was a very troubled and conflicted person. But when it comes to Humanism and today's atheism, he is dead wrong.

a reply to: lonesomerimbaud

Some people choose to believe in the world, rather wasting time believing or not believing in things that do not exist.

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, following his wife's advice in responding to Rabbi Herbert Goldstein of the International Synagogue in New York, who had sent Einstein a cablegram bluntly demanding "Do you believe in God?" Quoted from and citation notes derived from Victor J Stenger, Has Science Found God? (draft: 2001), chapter 3.

The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.
-- Albert Einstein, in a letter responding to philosopher Eric Gutkind, who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt; quoted from James Randerson, "Childish Superstition: Einstein's Letter Makes View of Religion Relatively Clear: Scientist's Reply to Sell for up to £8,000, and Stoke Debate over His Beliefs" The Guardian, (13 May 2008)

For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything "chosen" about them.
-- Albert Einstein, in a letter responding to philosopher Eric Gutkind, who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt; quoted from James Randerson, "Childish Superstition: Einstein's Letter Makes View of Religion Relatively Clear: Scientist's Reply to Sell for up to £8,000, and Stoke Debate over His Beliefs" The Guardian, (13 May 2008)

Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men -- above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.
-- Albert Einstein, quoted from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief, p. 241

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.
-- Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955, quoted from James A Haught, "Breaking the Last Taboo" (1996)

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.
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press

It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere.... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. 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.
-- Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930

One strength of the Communist system ... is that it has some of the characteristics of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion.
-- Albert Einstein, Out Of My Later Years (1950), thanks to Laird Wilcox, ed, "The Degeneration of Belief"

It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion.
-- Albert Einstein (attributed: source unknown)

Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being.
-- Albert Einstein, 1936, responding to a child who wrote and asked if scientists pray. Source: Albert Einstein: The Human Side, Edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann

Albert EinsteinI cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent, been placed in doubt by modern science. [He was speaking of Quantum Mechanics and the breaking down of determinism.] 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.
-- Albert Einstein, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press

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. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
-- Albert Einstein, The World as I See It

I am convinced that some political and social activities and practices of the Catholic organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the community as a whole, here and everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth control at a time when overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organize peace on this planet.
-- Albert Einstein, letter, 1954

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, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press

edit on 2-2-2015 by Grimpachi because:

I will have to say that biographer Walter Isaacson is a damn liar and we don't need his interpretations or fabrications on Einsteins thoughts about gods or religion Einstein left plenty of statements that were clear on that and they do not match up with what Isaacson has claimed.

The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spiritualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.
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....
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
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.
Immortality? There are two kinds. The first lives in the imagination of the people, and is thus an illusion. There is a relative immortality which may conserve the memory of an individual for some generations. But there is only one true immortality, on a cosmic scale, and that is the immortality of the cosmos itself. There is no other.
-- Albert Einstein, quoted in Madalyn Murray O'Hair, All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask American Atheists (1982) vol. ii., p. 29


Stenger: To Einstein, 'God' is 'Nature' (Spinoza's God)
"Both deism and traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic theism must also be contrasted with pantheism, the notion attributed to Baruch Spinoza (d. 1677) that the deity is associated with the order of nature or the universe itself. This also crudely summarizes the Hindu view and that of many indigenous religions around the world. When modern scientists such as Einstein and Stephen Hawking mention 'God' in their writings, this is what they seem to mean: that God is Nature."
-- Victor J Stenger, Has Science Found God? (2001), chapter 3

a reply to: Grimpachi

You just traded one mans interputations for another mans interputations.

I'm with Einstein on this one.

Agnosticism is the way of reason!

originally posted by: theMediator
I'm with Einstein on this one.

Agnosticism is the way of reason!

i feel as though agnosticism is the philosophical equivalent of mom saying, "if you guys cant share and play nicely, i will just take the toys away!"

originally posted by: deadeyedick
a reply to: Grimpachi

You just traded one mans interputations for another mans interputations.

I traded one man's interpretations on Einsteins thoughts for direct quotes from Einstein on his own thoughts.


The subject is what Einstein said.

originally posted by: borntowatch

originally posted by: Akragon
a reply to: Elton

Heres a shocker...

Hes right... Jesus didn't ever claim to be God...

That came quite a bit after he died... and more so when the early church fathers got together and decided what they thought he was saying...

they were confused... just as the direct followers of Jesus were

No Jesus didnt claim to be God (But yes He did) His actions showed us He was God

You are confused, why was Christ crucified?

He was condemned for blasphemy.... and the romans executed him for sedition...

and no he didn't ever claim to be God...

Don't tell me im confused...