This March, it will be 100 years since Albert Einstein submitted his papers on the special theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Einstein’s life and writings are often cited as examples of the of the harmony of science and religion, but he was not a religious man in the traditional sense. He rejected the idea of a personal God, believing that the notion was for weak-minded individuals.
“In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests. In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure, a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task…” (1)
What is interesting to me about Einstein’s faith is that he doesn’t simply reject the idea of a personal God, but the damage on the nobility of humanity when the idea of God becomes too narrowly defined. Humanity earns it’s freedom when it testifies that God is an unknowable essence.
“I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves. An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.” (2)
“You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a peculiar religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religion of the naive man. For the latter God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a child for its father, a being to whom one stands to some extent in a personal relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe. But
the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has
possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.” (3)
“‘Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.’ So Einstein once wrote to explain his personal creed: ‘A religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance of those super-personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation.’
His was not a life of prayer and worship. Yet he lived by a deep faith–a faith not capable of rational foundation–that there are laws of Nature to be discovered. His lifelong pursuit was to discover them. His realism and his optimism are illuminated by his remark: ‘Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not’ (’Raffiniert ist der Herrgott aber boshaft ist er nicht.’.'). When
asked by a colleague what he meant by that, he replied: ‘Nature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse’ (’Die Natur verbirgt ihr Geheimnis durch die Erhabenheit ihres Wesens, aber nicht durch List.’).” (4)
If you would like to brush up on your physics to start off this new year, you might like to check out “The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality” by Brian Greene.
I hope you have found this thought-provoking I’m interested in knowing what you think.
citations:
- “Science, Philosophy, and Religion, A Symposium”,published by the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in Their Relation to the Democratic Way of Life, Inc., New York, 1941
- “The World as I See It,” taken from the abridged edition of Einstein’s book bearing the same title. (Philosophical Library, New York, 1949)
- ibid.
- “Subtle is the Lord– ” : the science and the life of Albert Einstein by Abraham Pais, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1982.
Very interesting and informative piece, Tim. I knew that Einstein was a believer, but didn’t know in what way or how strongly.
I always thought that the idea of a person God and things like prayer are just crazy nonsense. Two high school teams pray before a football game. One loses. God favors the other?
I wish there are more Einstein type of believers. God bless him…although he might disagree with that.
This is sammy, even though it says joe
I agree that a narrow minded view of God can hinder individuals, but I think that the problem doesnt lie with the greatness of God, but with the incapability of humans to fully understand Him. I think that many people “believe” in God, but not many actually KNOW Him, they dont even really know what they believe! I am wondering if this wasnt the same case when Einstein was alive since it can be seen all throughout history: especially in cases where people use God or religion as a reason to make war when it is obviously not Gods will (like in the Crusades, etc.).
In response to you Barry, about the praying before the games, I personally thing that lots of people are outwardly “religious”, but often times it is more of a ritual than an actual personal belief. I dont think that one team wins because God loves them more or something: I beleive that he lets one team win or lose for reasons that we dont understand, but that He loves all the players the same.
Well put, if we fully understood God, there’d be no point in having one. (we’d find ways to try and manipulate, and we’d be in bigger/deeper messes than we already are in)
it’s not about winning or losing. our problem is we value the wrong things in life: pride, earthly possessions, etc. Besides, it’s mostly the sad/depressing moments of our lives that bring us closer to God (at least that’s usually the case with me). So losing the battle might win you the war. Who knows? God does.
this is barry. joe need to fix his blog.
My point wasn’t about winning or losing, but the absurdity of a personal God. She doesn’t care. (My God is a hot lady. Sorry guys.)
But then I’m a bloody atheist, so whom am I to say anything about God. Let’s leave it to Einstein. And Tim.
Eric’s worked fine, what’s wrong with yours?
this is sammy,, mine has problems too, i cant write with my own name like before
you probably need to clear your cookies?
I don’t see it as having a personal God, more like a personal belief of an existing God. Most religions have one God (if there are multiples, there’s usually one that rules them), think of it as LOTR, the one God to rule them all. So who knows, maybe at the end we’re all worshipping the same God? We won’t know for sure until the day we die, but until then, it’s all based on faith. Don’t you ever wonder if there are more to life than just what your five senses allow you to sense?
I don’t know, Christianity makes the most sense to me so far. And there have been certain miracles that have happened in my family, so I’m pretty convinced. And I don’t accept them as pure coincidence.
this is barry, and I think I’ve already tried clearing my cookies, because eric suggested it once before. joe need to fix his blog, or better yet, write his own…with ASP.NET!
From what I’ve learned from Tim, that’s what Bahá’í suggests–all religions basically worship the same God. (Tim, if I remembered this incorrectly, please speak up!) But believing in the existence of God and religion are two things. You can believe in God without subscribing to any particular religion. You can believe in God without worshipping it. You can believe in God without accepting that it would perform miracles for some people while letting some live and die horribly.
Be a deist kids, if you believe at all.
In Christianity, believing in the existence of God and not worshipping Him means you have a problem with pride IMHO. Because the main focus of Christianity is how God sent His only son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins (the idea of sacrificing lambs back in the old days, then having Jesus be the ultimate sacrifice to cleanse our sins). To believe that there is a God that loves us so much, yet you don’t do anything to acknowledge Him and return your love pretty much means you’re not showing respect to our creator yes? That’s like saying, “Ok, God, I know you’re all powerful and everything, but that’s ok, I don’t need you, you’re useless to me. Only the weak people need you, I’m strong, I can make it on my own.” Warning, bad analogy ahead: Or Bowser saying, “Look Barry, I don’t need you to feed me anymore, I can make it on my own.”
There’s also no ’standard’ way of worship, you can do it your own way as long as it glorifies God.
I think you should go to the Chinese Church in Corvallis a few times just to check it out. I really like the pastor there and I’m sure he’s more than willing to answer any questions you have (I’m sure you have many). I’m not saying you have to believe it. If anything you’ll learn more about what Christianity is about.
When will Joe fix his blog!!?
I wasn’t talking about Christianity in particular. But it’s exactly “the main focus” stuff I have problem with. JC died for our sins is BS to me. I’m not born with sin. And certainly didn’t inherited any from my ancestors. It was you who said that “we don’t know for sure until the day we die” and yet you seem to so sure that “there is a God that loves us so much.”
I’m sure that I don’t have any questions. At least not at this moment.
It’s not a pride thing for me since God doesn’t exists, and communicating with some non-existent being is crazy.
I think you need to read more about beliefs around the world throughout history. Or at least stuff on Christianity. Read about what some of the Founding Fathers of this country thought of Christianity and religion. (My favorite bit is where Jefferson went thru his Bible and cut out all the supernatural elements–creating the Jefferson Bible.)
woah, im confused on where this came from (as in, not the validity of the statement, but how it ties into the conversation):
“I think you need to read more about beliefs around the world throughout history. Or at least stuff on Christianity. Read about what some of the Founding Fathers of this country thought of Christianity and religion. (My favorite bit is where Jefferson went thru his Bible and cut out all the supernatural elements–creating the Jefferson Bible.)”
–Sammy
It was just to counter Eric’s suggestion that I should go to church and talk to the pastor. Although I must admit that the word “need” made me sounded like an ass; I didn’t mean that Eric is an ignorant jackass. (His comics could use some help though!)
But I think too many people simply inherited their parents’ religion, grew up attending church, having other people interpret the (perhaps already pre-interpreted *annotated*) Bible for them, etc…
Again, not a person attack on Eric. I do those in person.
<3
it goes back to faith barry. YOU can’t be SURE of something unless it’s based on FACTS that you haven’t WITNESSED FIRSTHAND, right? I’m counting on faith to what I believe, that’s the difference to “we won’t know for sure” and “there’s a God that loves us.” Because I won’t experience it firsthand (to know for sure) until I’m dead… and thus I won’t be able to actually communicate that to you (assuming you are still alive).
Can you say you haven’t sinned since your birth? By the time you die, can you say that you’re without sin? If you, or anyone that you know can, then tell me JC dying for our sins is BS. And I think the wording is more of, “you are born INTO sin,” meaning being born into a world tainted with sin. You are not born with sin inside you.
I actually didn’t ‘inherit’ my parents’ religion. I didn’t really accept Christ until high school.
i meant to say, “YOU can’t be SURE of something unless it’s based on FACTS that you have WITNESSED FIRSTHAND, right?”
damn you double negatives.
oh, and the only reason i said, “main focus” is because it is the main difference between Christianity, Catholicism, Mormons, etc etc. but in a different light, yes, it is sort of the main focus.
Of course it’s based on faith, that’s the whole point for you guys. The whole sin business is an awfully negative way to live life. I’ll just do the best I can.
We should just stop, and agree to disagree, and that joe need to fix his god damn blog. I understand where you are coming from, even if I totally disagree and think it’s nuts.
Totally Unsaved,
–Barry
ok we can stop. but living in a world of sin is not a negative way to live life per se, that’s just how it is (i think you have to agree with me there).
if you ever change your mind, the doors are always open for ya.
Open Doors, Open Minds,
Really bad OSU slogan.
ok, this is the real joe.
woah!! what happened here? 18 replies (before this one), i thought i got spammed!! my 2 cents coming in.
Hi there, this is sammy again. I just wanted to respond to Barry about growin up and just “inheriting” religion from parents. I totally agree with you on that, and actually I think that a large portion of so called “christians” are simply following what they have grown up with. However, that wasn’t the case for me, and I can tell you that, yes, beliving in a personal savior is “nuts” according to the logic that we have grown up with science, etc. However, although we may be nuts, it doesnt mean that we have to be ignorant–i mean, God gave us a brain after all, we better use it!
Anyhoo, since it apears that you guys wanted to stop this ‘ol conversation, ill just stop here ok?
–Sammy
Joe