Einstein & Faith

Time.com ^ | April 5, 2007 | WALTER ISAACSON

[bamahead]

I found this to be a fascinating read. With all the scientists out there who routinely discount any religion and the existence of God, this guy was unquestionably THE most brilliant scientific mind in history, yet he refused to succumb to that black vs. white line of thinking of God vs no God. Rather, the simple organization and order of it all was enough evidence for him to keep some faith that there was a higher power at work.

I don't do many religious posts, but I thought this was worth sharing. I definitely not what you'd call a true believer in theories like Intelligent Design, but this was definitely an interesting viewpoint.

[hosepipe]

[ this guy was unquestionably THE most brilliant scientific mind in history, yet he refused to succumb to that black vs. white line of thinking of God vs no God. ]

As did his friend Neils Bohr..

[philled]

My favorite Einstein quote:

"There are two ways to live your life:
One is though nothing is a miracle,
The other is as though everything is a miracle."

[ARridgerunner]

Hindu Philosophy rings.

Toynbee said Hindus were Spinozists before Spinoza.

Maybe Einstein was Hinjew.

[Kimmers]

Thank you for this great post...

[bamahead]

Sure! It was one of those reads that really got my wheels turning on a Monday morning.

Coffee doesn’t seem to be working very well today ;)

[MHGinTN]

I would love to spend some quality time with Stephen Hawking, to discuss his actual 'current' views on God and the universe. There is so much dissonance presently, it would be nice to get the correct version don'tchaknow. Might even be a book in the exercise. It would be sad to have Stephen pass away before getting a summary view. We average folk need to at least hear and consider the perspectives of the great minds, especially those contemporary to our lives! There used to be a series of video interviews with great minds in various fields. Wonder if I can find that link again?...

[kittymyrib]

“well, they cant possibly be ‘real’ scientists then, right?”

Nor can Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian botanist and Roman Catholic priest, who established Mendel’s law, the basis of the modern scientific theory of heredity.
The “know-nothings” who believe in evolution will never admit that a large percentage of the giants of science were Christians. For them, history begins with their prophet, Darwin, and they are as zealous and close-minded as those who follow Mohammed.

[Kimmers]

I am going to pass this on to my minister. He often talks about faith and science.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I would love to spend some quality time with Stephen Hawking, to discuss his actual 'current' views on God and the universe.

A Christian astrophysicist friend of mine (Dr. Hugh Ross) knows Hawking personally and described to me several years ago Hawking's spiritual journey. Hugh said Hawking's wife (Jane?) is a Christian who prayed unceasingly for Steven's salvation but was ever thwarted. Sadly, they have since divorced. I don't have anything more recent.

[Clock King]

Bump for later. Most of the great scientists were quite devout. You can't help but look a the sheer mind-boggling immensity of the Universe and the simple but complex beauty of DNA and life and not feel the hand of God. Certainly, we are but looking into just an infinitesimal fraction of God's Mind.

[MHGinTN]

I’ve corresponded with him indirectly, through the library staff in faxes years ago, but the topic of his religious beliefs was never a topic. I guess I’m getting old, to be interested more in his faith than his physics. But then, isn’t it all cosmology in the end? I think I’ll add him to my prayer list.

[aruanan]

yet he refused to succumb to that black vs. white line of thinking of God vs no God.

Where in the world did you get that?

[thackney]

BTTT

[mosaicwolf]

Relax...The entire universe is merely an illusion....A projection of the collective mind....Think of it in terms of a vivid hologram or dream. Wake up America! Create a great day.

[hurly]

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.

-Albert Einstein (The World as I See It, 1949

How about giving your minister this quaote also

[hurly]

The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spiritualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which based on experience, which refuses dogmatic. If there’s any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be Buddhism....
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.
Immortality? There are two kinds. The first lives in the imagination of the people, and is thus an illusion. There is a relative immortality which may conserve the memory of an individual for some generations. But there is only one true immortality, on a cosmic scale, and that is the immortality of the cosmos itself. There is no other.
— Albert Einstein, quoted in Madalyn Murray O’Hair, All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask American Atheists (1982) vol. ii., p. 29

Had to add this in also. Seem like Albert liked Buddhism the best.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Seem(s) like Albert liked Buddhism the best.”
This is the impression I got also! Maybe he was a Buddhist in a previous life!