regal8r
Slammed
5,000+ posts
Striking Accord
they dont have //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/popcorn.gif.32dd9e22fd77e77bc3c907062768fcd2.gif in diymobileaudio //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif
brtnboarder3241
5,000+ posts
Banned
LONDON - Albert Einstein: arch rationalist or scientist with a spiritual core?
A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."
The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.
*
Einstein letter calls Bible ‘pretty childish’
Famous scientist also dismisses belief in God as product of human weakness
A letter by Albert Einstein outlining his views on God and religion is being sold on Thursday and is expected to fetch from $12,000 to $16,000.
View related photos
AP
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updated 2:16 p.m. CT, Tues., May. 13, 2008
LONDON - Albert Einstein: arch rationalist or scientist with a spiritual core?
A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."
The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
Einstein, who helped unravel the mysteries of the universe with his theory of relativity, expressed complex and arguably contradictory views on faith, perceiving a universe suffused with spirituality while rejecting organized religion.
The letter up for sale, written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954, suggests his views on religion did not mellow with age.
In it, Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."
"For me," he added, "the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."
Addressing the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people, Einstein wrote that "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. As far as my experience goes, they are also 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."
Bloomsbury spokesman Richard Caton said the auction house was "100 percent certain" of the letter's authenticity. It is being offered at auction for the first time, by a private vendor.
Quirky beliefs
John Brooke, emeritus professor of science and religion at Oxford University, said the letter lends weight to the notion that "Einstein was not a conventional theist" — although he was not an atheist, either.
"Like many great scientists of the past, he is rather quirky about religion, and not always consistent from one period to another," Brooke said.
Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, Einstein said he went through a devout phase as a child before beginning to question conventional religion at the age of 12.
In later life, he expressed a sense of wonder at the universe and its mysteries — what he called a "cosmic religious feeling" — and famously said: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
But he also said: "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."
Brooke said Einstein believed that "there is some kind of intelligence working its way through nature. But it is certainly not a conventional Christian or Judaic religious view."
Einstein's most famous legacy is the special theory of relativity, which makes the point that a large amount of energy could be released from a tiny amount of matter, as expressed in the equation e=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). The theory changed the face of physics, allowing scientists to make predictions about space and paving the way for nuclear power and the atomic bomb.
Einstein's musings on science, war, peace and God helped make him world famous, and his scientific legacy prompted Time magazine to name him its Person of the 20th Century.
A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."
The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.
*
Einstein letter calls Bible ‘pretty childish’
Famous scientist also dismisses belief in God as product of human weakness
A letter by Albert Einstein outlining his views on God and religion is being sold on Thursday and is expected to fetch from $12,000 to $16,000.
View related photos
AP
Video
Who would Einstein vote for?
May 12: Walter Isaacson, author of "Albert Einstein: His Life and Universe," takes Mika Brzezinski and Chris Matthews inside the mind of the genius who was able to combine intelligence and creativity.
Morning Joe
Video: Faith
More video
Gay bishop plans to marry
May 8: Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson speaks with TODAY's Matt Lauer about his support for same-*** marriage and his upcoming plans.
Low-carbon Monks
Whirling dervishes of Turkey
Obama's ex-pastor speaks out
Rocket show for Easter
RSS feeds on MSNBC.com
Add these headlines to your news reader
Faith
Learn more about RSS
Most popular
• Most viewed • Top rated • Most e-mailed
Ford recalling more than 655,000 trucks
Troops rush to plug 'dangerous' cracks in dam
Harried family forgets tot in Vancouver airport
‘Idol’ final seems a lock to be battle of Davids
U.N. warns of new ‘wave of deaths’ in Myanmar
Most viewed on msnbc.com
Woman who saved kids from Holocaust dies
Girl will lose her legs to gain freedom
‘America's Most Wanted’ notches 1,000th arrest
FirstPerson: Readers report on China quake
Quake’s force sealed fate for China students
Most viewed on msnbc.com
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Ford recalling more than 655,000 trucks
'Darth Vader' spared jail in Jedi church attacks
U.S. lists polar bear as threatened species
Harried family forgets tot in Vancouver airport
Most viewed on msnbc.com
updated 2:16 p.m. CT, Tues., May. 13, 2008
LONDON - Albert Einstein: arch rationalist or scientist with a spiritual core?
A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish."
The letter, handwritten in German, is being sold by Bloomsbury Auctions on Thursday and is expected to fetch between $12,000 and $16,000.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
Einstein, who helped unravel the mysteries of the universe with his theory of relativity, expressed complex and arguably contradictory views on faith, perceiving a universe suffused with spirituality while rejecting organized religion.
The letter up for sale, written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954, suggests his views on religion did not mellow with age.
In it, Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."
"For me," he added, "the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."
Addressing the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people, Einstein wrote that "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. As far as my experience goes, they are also 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."
Bloomsbury spokesman Richard Caton said the auction house was "100 percent certain" of the letter's authenticity. It is being offered at auction for the first time, by a private vendor.
Quirky beliefs
John Brooke, emeritus professor of science and religion at Oxford University, said the letter lends weight to the notion that "Einstein was not a conventional theist" — although he was not an atheist, either.
"Like many great scientists of the past, he is rather quirky about religion, and not always consistent from one period to another," Brooke said.
Born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1879, Einstein said he went through a devout phase as a child before beginning to question conventional religion at the age of 12.
In later life, he expressed a sense of wonder at the universe and its mysteries — what he called a "cosmic religious feeling" — and famously said: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
But he also said: "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."
Brooke said Einstein believed that "there is some kind of intelligence working its way through nature. But it is certainly not a conventional Christian or Judaic religious view."
Einstein's most famous legacy is the special theory of relativity, which makes the point that a large amount of energy could be released from a tiny amount of matter, as expressed in the equation e=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). The theory changed the face of physics, allowing scientists to make predictions about space and paving the way for nuclear power and the atomic bomb.
Einstein's musings on science, war, peace and God helped make him world famous, and his scientific legacy prompted Time magazine to name him its Person of the 20th Century.
Slammed
5,000+ posts
Striking Accord
to each his own...God is nature and life //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif
Frijoles24
10+ year member
CarAudio.com Elite
oh dang haha no offence, but i always thought that about religion =x "product of human weakness" . but i always thought, believe what u want, what makes u happy. so ive never said much about it. happiness i think is the only thing to live for. not this slavery to this economy. =p
Slammed
5,000+ posts
Striking Accord
Addressing the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people, Einstein wrote that "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. As far as my experience goes, they are also 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."
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif
i gotta say i too have thought a time or two if religion is just something people made up to have something to believe in. seems easy to just live life thinking god will take care of you in the end.
im not saying i do believe and im not saying i dont, i just dont know what i believe yet.
im not saying i do believe and im not saying i dont, i just dont know what i believe yet.
tappin_azz
10+ year member
The Wiggler Pimp
im jewish, therefore;
me > einstein
me > einstein
Slammed
5,000+ posts
Striking Accord
reading > j00
dragnix
5,000+ posts
LXIX
are you happy not knowing the English language?
dragnix
5,000+ posts
LXIX
srsly, you're a dumbass
Slammed
5,000+ posts
Striking Accord
....and Goya beans
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