I just read in the newspaper that one of Einstein's letters is being auctioned.

In it, he says, "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.”

Einstein is often quoted as mentioning God, but this letter proves what his biographers have always maintained - that he was an atheist, and used God in a metaphorical sense or for theatrical effect.

Einstein was very much an atheist. He often gets quoted in a way that suggests he was a believer, but not so. This is one of my favorite Einstein quotes:

“If people are good, only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”

Albert Einstein

I always knew he was an atheist from studying history.  However, I did hear some of these misquotes, and I do not know why people said he was a believer when he was not.  Interesting.

Marisa Wright wrote:

I just read in the newspaper that one of Einstein's letters is being auctioned.

In it, he says, "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.”

Einstein is often quoted as mentioning God, but this letter proves what his biographers have always maintained - that he was an atheist, and used God in a metaphorical sense or for theatrical effect.

Some of Albert Einsteins famous quotes.
God does not play dice with the universe.
The universe is a cosmic delusion.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science.
He was believer in God and an Enlightened One.
One who has not witnessed the other dimension of god cannot talk like this.He is only aware of this reality.
Poet Mohit.k.Misra

mohitmisra wrote:

Some of Albert Einsteins famous quotes.
God does not play dice with the universe.
The universe is a cosmic delusion.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science.
He was believer in God and an Enlightened One.
One who has not witnessed the other dimension of god cannot talk like this.He is only aware of this reality.
Poet Mohit.k.Misra

Einstein was an atheist. He did not believe in god.   Another quote:

"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."

'I did hear some of these misquotes, and I do not know why people said he was a believer when he was not.' Fudging the truth for a good cause is OK, if it makes converts.

It is appropriate that these posts are presented inside of boxes. Each person is putting Dr. Einstein's belief's inside a very convenient, formal box ... believer, non-believer ... atheist, Judeo-Christian moralist.

Dr. Einstein believed in one essential fact only: we know nothing. We have many theories,  many more beliefs and an innumerable amount of faith in so many combinations of these theories and beliefs that it would make Zeus’s head spin.

If we want to get to the heart of Dr. Einstein's beliefs we should listen to his words. He was not a big fan of labels. As mentioned earlier, he said, "You may call me an agnostic ..." but his point wasn't that he actually was an agnostic. He was essentially saying, 'Call me what you will, it matters not.'

In a letter he wrote, "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."

Dr. Einstein can't truly be called an atheist because he didn't "disbelieve" in a God, but he can't be called a "believer" either. I believe it is simpler to say that in the realm of the spiritual, he was smart enough to know that he could not know, and therefore reserved judgment until the truth was revealed. I imagine we'll come to the same conclusion at the same time he did - when we breathe our last.

Crash Jones wrote:

imagine we'll come to the same conclusion at the same time he did - when we breathe our last.

then, it might have been late.

Crash Jones wrote:

Dr. Einstein can't truly be called an atheist because he didn't "disbelieve" in a God

Crash, atheists don't "disbelieve" in God.  That's a common misconception.  Talk to any atheist and he will say, "give me proof that God exists and I will accept it". 

There isn't a Ferrari parked in my garage.  I don't "disbelieve" in the Ferrari, it just isn't there.  Take me out to the garage and show me it IS there, and I'll believe it.

Marisa Wright wrote:

Crash Jones wrote:

Dr. Einstein can't truly be called an atheist because he didn't "disbelieve" in a God

Crash, atheists don't "disbelieve" in God.  That's a common misconception.  Talk to any atheist and he will say, "give me proof that God exists and I will accept it". 

There isn't a Ferrari parked in my garage.  I don't "disbelieve" in the Ferrari, it just isn't there.  Take me out to the garage and show me it IS there, and I'll believe it.

From the good folks at Merriam-Webster:
athe·ism 
1 archaic : ungodliness, wickedness
2 a: a disbelief in the existence of deity b: the doctrine that there is no deity
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Atheism

Just because you want to rewrite the definition of atheism does not mean that atheism's definition has been rewritten.

Your Ferrari example is a logically flawed argument for atheism, but a great one for agnosticism. While it is true that belief in an object does not depend upon its immediate presence, there must be some proof that the object may exist before belief can be reasonably held. Not believing in Ferraris (Feratheism?) would be silly. Example: For Christians, the proof is in the Bible and perceived Godly actions in their lives and the world.

For Dr. Einstein, he saw patterns and actions in nature that led him to, while not have faith in an almighty presence, believe that a superior entity may be in existence. He simply had the good sense to realize that there was no way he could prove or disprove a God's existence. So, he accepted not knowing. This is very different than "a disbelief in the existence of deity"

Crash Jones wrote:

Just because you want to rewrite the definition of atheism does not mean that atheism's definition has been rewritten.

It depends which dictionary you look at. 

My dictionary defines atheism as "rejection of belief in God"

Marisa Wright wrote:

Crash Jones wrote:

Just because you want to rewrite the definition of atheism does not mean that atheism's definition has been rewritten.

It depends which dictionary you look at. 

My dictionary defines atheism as "rejection of belief in God"

Again, Dr. Einstein did not reject belief in God. He rejected being pigeon-holed into believing or not believing.

LOl - Marisa, you are talking to a believer, logic means nothing. In the meantime, here are a couple more quotes from Einstein.

"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."     

From a letter Einstein wrote in English, dated 24 March 1954

"During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution, human fantasy created gods in man's own image who, by the operations of their will were supposed to determine, or at any rate influence, the phenomenal world... The idea of God in the religions taught at present is a sublimation of that old conception of the gods. Its anthropomorphic character is shown, for instance, by the fact that men appeal to the Divine Being in prayers and plead for the fulfillment of their wishes... 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 vase power in the hands of priests."     

Albert Einstein, reported in Science, Philosophy and Religion: A Symposium

"Thus I came...to a deep religiosity, which, however, reached an abrupt end at the age of 12. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached a conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true....Suspicion against every kind of authority grew out of this experience...an attitude which has never left me."

The Quotable Einstein

I guess you could "interpret" these to mean he was an agnostic, but it seems clear to me he was an atheist.

Mark Knowles wrote:

LOl - Marisa, you are talking to a believer, logic means nothing. In the meantime, here are a couple more quotes from Einstein.

I guess you could "interpret" these to mean he was an agnostic, but it seems clear to me he was an atheist.

If by believer you mean agnostic with a strong inclination toward atheism, that's me. Having read a great deal, scientific and philosophic, by and on Einstein, and having written a published work on the man himself (though focused on his personal relationships with women, not his theology), I am somewhat versed on Einstein, and I agree that the quotes you provide show that he did not believe in any form of a religious, dogmatic view of a God.

While I agree that his many, many quotes directly using the term "God" (and notice that he almost always spelled God with a capital G) were, in essence, simplified maxims meant to appeal to the scientific layman, I do not think it fair to, as I said, box him into an atheist frame. His thinking was vastly more complex. Where many see black, white and grey, he saw beyond Crayola's 64. As with all things, Einstein viewed the question of a superior power through a prism, where there are as many possibilities as there are colors.

After all of this, I would like to clarify, so that I am not misunderstood, what it is I am trying to convey. Einstein saw no solid proof of a higher power, but he did see the complexities of the universe that can not be explained. The lack of explanation lead him to be, perhaps best categorized (in my mind) as a skeptical agnostic. But not a Bertrand Russell atheist.

Marisa Wright wrote:

In it, he says, "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses,

I'm a weak person so I guess I have no other choice but to believe in God.

Well, I guess all atheists could be classed the same way. I am an atheist. I have looked at the evidence available to me and come to the conclusion there is no god or God

But, like Einstein I suspect, I am open to being proven wrong. I too see the unexplained aspects of the Universe, I just do not see a reason to ascribe this to an all-powerful creator.

Although, if I did, I would have trouble believing that I was in any way worth consideration by this creator.

I think this quote in particular is important to whether Einstein should be considered an atheist:

"I do not believe in a personal God"

This is what I say. And I am an atheist. It's pretty clear, although constant references made and mis-quotes have muddied the issue. Einstein was an atheist. Whether he was forced to change his opinion after death is a matter for conjecture. Although, he would be high on my list of people that could persuade me if he came back and said so

Calling him a skeptical agnostic just leaves open the door for people who say, "Einstein was not an atheist, therefore he believed in God."

Mark Knowles wrote:

“If people are good, only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”

I guess not everyone who does good are hoping for rewards. Sometimes, people do good because it just feels better that way. When you do something bad, it doesn't make you happier.

BeatsMe wrote:

Mark Knowles wrote:

“If people are good, only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”

I guess not everyone who does good are hoping for rewards. Sometimes, people do good because it just feels better that way. When you do something bad, it doesn't make you happier.

This is an Einstein quote. One of my favorites actually.

Albert Einstein said it. It's a quote from Albert Einstein.

And your comment makes no sense to me. Some times doing the "good," thing feels very, very bad. And doing "bad," things can make you feel very happy.

Yeah. Sometimes. But not all of the time. And by the way, I knew it was a quote from Albert Einstein.

Mark Knowles wrote:

"I do not believe in a personal God"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_ … n_letter_2

This links to an article about the letter I think you're referencing being sold for $400k.

And, naturally , I'll point out this paragraph: "Einstein experts say the letter supports the argument that the physicist held complex, agnostic views on religion. He rejected organized faith but often spoke of a spiritual force at work in the universe."