Einstein was one of the greatest scientists to probe the universe; naturally, his thoughts regarding God and religion are often sought out. There is, unfortunately, much confusion about his views. This stems from the unorthodox way he used the words "Religion" and "God," and also from a systematic campaign by the religious community to claim him as a believer.
Einstein was quite clearly an unbeliever. His unbelief is substantiated in the quotations and references which follow the Historical Notes.
Historical Notes
Einsteins family was of Jewish descent, but his father regarded the customs of the Jewish faith as "an ancient superstition." At an early age, after reading some science books, Einstein abandoned revealed religion and turned to the laws of nature.
In 1911 Einstein was offered a professorship in Prague, but was denied the post because he put "unaffiliated" for his religion. To get the job he asked the officials to change the entry.
At a prayer breakfast in 1929, Cardinal OConnell charged that behind Relativity stood the "ghastly apparition of Atheism." A Rabbi immediately sent a letter to Einstein asking him if he believed in God. Einstein replied that he believed in the God of Spinoza. His
definition of God was just another word for Nature and its laws. Einstein did not believe in a superintelligence, the existence of the Trinity, the miracles of Jesus, the immortality of the soul, astrology, or the existence of the supernatural.
When Einstein made the often quoted (and misused) remark--"God does not play dice with the Universe--" he meant that there are no random motions in the Universe; all Nature conforms to mathematical laws.
Einstein also used the word "Religion" in a different sense. For him it meant the human wish to understand and to be moral, whether associated with a God or not. In that sense only he regarded religion as necessary. This is why he remarked, "In this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly
religious people." [3, p. 40]
Einstein remained an unbeliever. After his death in 1955 he was cremated without a religious ceremony.
His Thoughts About God
"It was, of course, a lie which 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 science can reveal it." [2, p. 38]
"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." [4, p.6]
"I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or a goal, or anything that could be understood as anthropomorphic." [2, p. 43]
"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. My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order and harmony of the universe which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem--the most important of all human problems." [7, p. 95]
"The main source of the present-day conflicts between the spheres of religion and science lies in the concept of a personal God." [5, p.27]
"I cannot accept any concept of a God based on the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar." [1, p. 622]
"In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have 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." [5, p. 28]
"The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events...He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little of social or moral religion." [6]
The Soul and Immortality
"I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it." [2, p. 34]
"Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be empty and devoid of meaning." [2, p. 35]
"Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism." [4, p. 6]
Prayer
A child in the sixth grade in a Sunday school in New York City, with the encouragement of her teacher, wrote to Einstein asking him whether scientists pray, and if so what they pray for. His reply:
"Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by the laws of nature...For this reason. a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a supernatural being." [2, p. 27]
The Bible
"Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much of the stories in the Bible could not be true." [1, p. 17]
Mysticism
"The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spirtualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion." [2, p. 35]
"What I see in nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism." [2, p. 34]
Morality
"Science has therefore been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A mans 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." [3, p. 39]
References
1.Clark, Ronald, The Life and Times of Einstein, New York, World Publishing Co., 1971.
2.Dukas, Helen, Albert Einstein: The Human Side, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1979.
3.Einstein, Albert, Ideas and Opinions, New York, Crown Books, 1954.
4.Einstein, Albert, Living Philosophies, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1931.
5.Einstein, Albert, Out of My Later Years, New York, Philosophical Library, 1950.
6.Einstein, Albert, "Religion and Science," New York Times Magazine, Nov. 9, 1930.
7.Hoffmann, Banesh, Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel, New York, Viking Press, 1972.
There you go, G'night.