Prometheus85
Active Member
Albert Einstein stated that he believed in the pantheistic God of Spinoza. He did not believe in a personal God who concerns himself with thr actions of human beings, a view which he described as naïve.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Was Albert Einstein an atheist
- Thread starter Prometheus85
- Start date
- Status
The Kilted Heathen
Crow FreyjasmaðR
I thought he was Jewish?
EDIT DUE TO OVER-QUOTE: I am acutely aware that Jewish is an ethnicity, as well as a religion.
EDIT DUE TO OVER-QUOTE: I am acutely aware that Jewish is an ethnicity, as well as a religion.
Last edited:
Albert Einstein described himself as agnostic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_and_philosophical_views_of_Albert_Einstein
Prometheus85
Active Member
What
"religious nonbeliever and a "pantheistic"
believer in "Spinoza's God"
Hmm. It seems Einsteins religious views change a lot. The wiki article u posted in also says Einsteins used many labels to describe his religious views. Such as agnostic",
"religious nonbeliever and a "pantheistic"
believer in "Spinoza's God"
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
A lot of people say Einstein stated things.
Only one who really knew was Einstein himself and he's clearly dead now. His brain violated by his doctor.
I thought he was physicist who hung out, really didn't work and played the violin..he was actually a government mooch.
Cranial harassment..I wonder if he gave him a roofy, or just cornered him privately in some hotel room.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Omg no, but the crap we do is usually weirder than the stories we create!!! I can only imagine some wierd groupie doctor being all kinds of strange.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
There's no reason he couldn't claim both, sort of like how Carl Sagan did. He too was a pantheist, and also claim Agnosticism. Niel DeGrasse Tyson is pretty much the same. And none of them were/are found of being called an atheist. Also, Einsteins views remained fairly consistent.
Statements from Einstein, himself:
"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
He specifically added a “personal God” that he didn't believe in.
(Keep in mind, not believing in a "personal" God, does not mean, Einstein didn't think God is a higher intellect. It only means he thought God wasn't interested in any person.... Or us, as people.)
Following is an excerpt from (Barnett, L.,) "The Universe and Dr. Einstein", Victor Gallancz Ltd, London, UK, p. 95, 1953.
"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals **Himself** in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a **superior reasoning power**, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God."
(Capitalization of 'Himself' and 'God' were in the book.
Double asterisks are mine, to highlight.)
He went with the evidence as revealed by science.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
Agnosticism (as the term was used by Einstein to describe himself here) is a subcategory of atheism.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
"Hebrew/Jewish" can refer to their race. For example, my DNA showed that I was about 35% "European Jew". It's a lineage, not just a religion/system of beliefs.
Do you mean to say his mother wanted him to be a doctor?
siti
Well-Known Member
How do you figure that? Agnosticism is the position that it is not possible to know whether a God exists or not - its not just a halfway house between doubt and faith - its a clear epistemological statement - and that is certainly how I read Einstein's 'pantheistic agnosticism'. He had a sneaking suspicion that there might be more behind the supreme order of the cosmos than meets the eye (hence his tentative Spinozism) but he was pretty certain that we would never know for sure (hence his firm agnosticism). Neither of these positions equate to atheism as far as I can see.
The Kilted Heathen
Crow FreyjasmaðR
Aye, I know that, but I thought he also was religiously Jewish, giving reason to his leaving Germany.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
The nazis didn't care whether you were religious. All you needed was a great grandparent that was jewish.
If you are referring to the Nazis, they persecuted even Jews who were not religious, but merely ethnic Jews.
- Status