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To: Reagan Man

Einstein himself stated quite clearly that he did not believe in a personal God:

“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.”

So, the quick answer to the question is that Einstein did not believe in a personal God. It is however, interesting how he arrived at that conclusion. In developing the theory of relativity, Einstein realized that the equations led to the conclusion that the universe had a beginning. He didn’t like the idea of a beginning, because he thought one would have to conclude that the universe was created by God. So, he added a cosmological constant to the equation to attempt to get rid of the beginning. He said this was one of the worst mistakes of his life. Of course, the results of Edwin Hubble confirmed that the universe was expanding and had a beginning at some point in the past. So, Einstein became a deist - a believer in an impersonal creator God:

“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.”

However, it would also seem that Einstein was not an atheist, since he also complained about being put into that camp:

“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”

“I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.”

Why no personal God?
It is the second part of the quote that reveals the reason Einstein rejected the existence of a personal God. Einstein compared the remarkable design and order of the cosmos and could not reconcile those characteristics with the evil and suffering he found in human existence. How could an all-powerful God allow the suffering that exists on earth?

(So Einstein, like many of this countries Founders, could properly called a deist.)


204 posted on 06/23/2008 8:35:06 AM PDT by KDD (Bob Barr for President.)
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To: KDD

Its a free country and one can believe in whatever they want. Einstein was highly intelligent but also very confused on issues related to personal faith.

OTOH, this was about George Carlin and his penchant for attacking God, Jesus, Christians, conservatives and traditional American values. Carlin showed no respect for others. Sad, pathetic, but true.


212 posted on 06/23/2008 9:03:09 AM PDT by Reagan Man ( McCain Wants My Conservative Vote in November --- EARN IT or NO DEAL !!!)
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