Posted on 05/13/2008 5:45:59 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.
The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.
As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".
"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," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.
The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell.
In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people.
"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said.
"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."
And he added: "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."
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.
Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.
I don’t know how Einstein really believed.
I took it literally, that is why I asked. I do not understand fear of God.
People generally fear powerful individuals who can hurt them, especially those individuals who have proven that they will readily hurt others for unjust reasons. The Christian God has threatened (if you believe in the Bible) to send you to a Hell to be tortured for eternity if you fail to believe a certain supernatural event happened in palestine 2000 years ago. It doesn't matter if you've been charitable, kind, and compassionate all your life, it doesn't matter if you've been a saint. If you happen to believe in another God, or you happen to believe there is not nearly enough evidence to believe the Christian story actually happened, this God will roast you forever right alongside Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, and Einstein. Such a God would strike me as being the worst kind of evil dictator imaginable, so only a fool would not fear such a being if he exists. Thankfully, the evidence that he does is horrible.
Wrong.
Which one do you believe in?
That is not as I believe.
I believe I don't have enough information to make an intelligent decision.
How sad.
Yup.
The how one believes is not as important as the what.
It wasn't until Fermi's breakthroughs proved that it could be done that they first had that indication.
I doubt Einstein would have predicted space travel or mapping the human genome either.
Hell must be an interesting place with the likes of Einstein and Jefferson hanging around.
Eternal damnation for someone like Einstein speaks volumes about your interpretation of God's system.
I don't think fear is the only path to wisdom, but it's a good one. The person who fears God is the person who is most likely to seek out God's instructions and obey them. And you can see that the "beginning of wisdom" is tied to "instruction" in the verses below.
How do you get to know anybody??? You spend time with them, you communicate, you find out their thoughts, you build up a resevoir of shared experiences.
Intimacy with God is the same way. The guy who spends time finding out what God has said, begins to understand who God is, and what he's about. The guy who obeys God and actually does what He says, understand the wisdom of what God said, much more than the person who just has book knowledge. And the person who does God's work with Him, gets to see God in action.
The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.
Exd 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people.
Luk 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: Luk 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. Luk 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Deu 4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; Deu 4:31 (For the LORD thy God [is] a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
That's not quite true. He will send you to Hell for the evil that you have done. Do no evil, keep the law in all respects, and you will have eternal life.
Jesus was asked three times how to have eternal life. To the rich young ruler Jesus named 4 or 5 of the commandments. The young man said, I've kept all of these from youth. Jesus said, go and sell all that you have and follow me. The rich young ruler went away sorrowful, because Jesus' answer had shown him his sin.
The lawyer asked, and Jesus asked back what is written in the law? The lawyer said Love the Lord and Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said Do this and you will live. And then the lawyer sought to justify himself asking who is my neighbor. Again Jesus said keep the law and you will live, but his answer showed the man his sin.
Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish sandhedrin asked and Jesus said, you must be born again. And that led into John chapter 3. Whosoever believes in me shall not perish but have ever lasting life.
It's not failing to believe in Jesus that will send you to Hell. But trusting in Jesus is the only way to avoid the death penalty for the sins you have committed.
I believe they are the same;
How one believes may be as a Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, etc.
What one believes, is Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, or Hebrew, etc.
How do you know the person who fears God is the person who is most likely to seek out God’s instructions and obey them?
What about those that spend time understanding God, and what they understood is different from another who spent time understanding God?
So you don't think God should be or wants to be feared?
I can’t imagine God wanting to be feared. As for should be, I think that would be up to the individual and his beliefs..
It seems to me to be a natural response. Fear is the reason I worked harder on English courses in college than on Math courses. I feared English, not Math. But I only took as much English as required, while I often took math as electives.
Love is ultimately a stronger motivator than English. And Jesus said he who obeys me is the one who loves me. Fear will only take you so far. But fear can get you started. Thus it's called the "beginning of wisdom"
"What about those that spend time understanding God, and what they understood is different from another who spent time understanding God?"
Fear being the beginning of wisdom, is not an absolute. Certainly, I don't think everyone starts out with fear. Some seek out instruction because of curiosity. Some out of love, or duty. Some grow up with instruction and motivation was provided for them.
And just like two people can have a different opinion or see different traits of a third person. The same can be true with God. Some people see His great love, other's recognize only his wrath. Some focus on his handiwork either in creation or people but don't really get to know him. So you can certainly see different traits of God and not everyone will see the same traits.
Two people can study the same law and come away with different opinions of what it means. But in court usually only one of them will be right. I believe the person whose heart is really open to God will eventually be led to a correct understanding in most things important.
And then there are people who spread false information. And some people will hold steadfast to that false understanding because that's what they want to hear, and they never look further.
That people hold different understandings doesn't mean they are all correct understandings. The dilligent will usually discover the correct understanding. That's one of the reasons why God commands that his followers fellowship together. Because in studying the scriptures together, you get different insights, and you are more likely to avoid a misunderstanding of them.
So different understandings of God can be the result of His complexity, or it may also be due to misunderstanding or false information.
Only in the same way that a parent want's a child to fear punishment to avoid doing something that could be injurious to the child or others or that is wrong.
Ultimately, God wants our love not our fear.
"Perfect love casts out fear" -John
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