Posted by Helen on: 05.14.2008 /
A letter by Einstein in a private collection for over fifty years sheds light on his views about religion. Here are a couple of excerpts from it
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.
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.
I read about this in The Guardian Online.
Comment by: Jason Horton
1I read this too. I really liked the end paragraph:
It highlights for me that arguments about religion are seldom as simple as who is right and who is wrong.
Comment by: Helen
2Yes - good point, Jason.
Comment by: Randy
3It appears this was written the year before he died (he died in 1955), if indeed it was written by him (the article says that the leading scholar on Einstein had never heard of the letter). Perhaps Albert got grumpy in his final years. This doesn’t sound like him, based on the large volume of other material we have, but who knows?
I have a bookmark from Borders Bookstore (I think that’s where it came from) with a quote from him that says, “I want to know God’s thoughts…the rest are details.” The copyright comes from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. The flipside of the bookmark contains some biographical information, but includes this:
“Einstein’s reverence for all creation, his belief in the grandeur, beauty and sublimity of the universe (the primary source of inspiration in his science), his awe fo rthe scheme that is manifested in the material universe–all of these show through in his work and philosophy.”
This is the Einstein I know. Not a particularly religious fellow, but a scientist who had a sense of humility and a reverence for the “incomprehensibility” of the world we live in.
Comment by: Helen
4Randy, I haven’t seen anyone question its authenticity. It was in a private collection for over 50 years; presumably that’s why it’s not well-known even by a leading expert on Einstein.
To me what your bookmark says doesn’t contradict the letter. Evidently to Einstein God was a metaphor. As you said, clearly he had a sense of humility and reverence for how amazing the universe is. I don’t see anything in the letter saying otherwise. The universe isn’t the topic of that letter (evidently) so it doesn’t come up. Here’s more of the letter.
And by the way, I looked up that quote Jason gave because I thought “Surely Einstein said the eternal mystery of the INcomprehensibility of the universe” (no offense Jason - what you had was what the Guardian had and I thought maybe theirs was wrong), but no, according to lots of Internet sources he said the eternal mystery of the comprehensiblity of it. Which I can’t quite get my head around but that’s what he said!
Comment by: Jason Horton
5Helen, don’t you think that it is a mystery as to how much the universe makes sense? In all the vastness of space and the minutia of plant and insect life there really does seem to be order. We are able to see and calculate the motion of planets and the positions of stars and comets, we can predict the tides and the movement of seasonal flocks of birds. So much of the world and the entire universe makes sense.
Perhaps Einstein meant “comprehensibility” as usefulness rather than as understandableness (if that’s even a word) and meant that it was strange that so much of the world is of value to us.
Some see this order as proof of God, I just think that it’s interesting.
Comment by: Helen
6Jason, thanks - that interpretation of his quote helps!