Einstein: The Bible Is Pretty Childish

[Operahaven]

"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

http://www6.comcast.net/articles/news-world-europe/20080513/einstein.bible/

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It's nice to read something like this...

[Brian]

this:

"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." - Albert Einstein

...has long been one of my favorite quotes and is on my "Facebook" account.

[Wanderer]

...has long been one of my favorite quotes and is on my "Facebook" account.

You've probably already received ads to buy Dawkins' books, then. If not, consider them forthcoming.

[Joe_Campbell]

this:

"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." - Albert Einstein

...has long been one of my favorite quotes and is on my "Facebook" account.

Einstein was smart, but there's a reason he's more famous for certain 'other' breakthroughs. How is this any more profound than the argument that our human purposes are modeled after God's?

[Brian]

You've probably already received ads to buy Dawkins' books, then. If not, consider them forthcoming.

Mine are all for either finding local women ... or finding local men. 

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

And here's uncle Ted coming 'round the side of the house, but you can see the front of the house!

[Hector]

So is Harry Potter and the Pentecostal Christians who run 'Jesus Camp' in Missouri assure me that in another time he would have been put to death as an evil warlock.

Death to all warlocks!

Damn, they've got me at it, now!

[karlhenning]

And here's uncle Ted coming 'round the side of the house, but you can see the front of the house!

Subtle, and artful!

[ChamberNut]

What I don't get is hotel rooms that still have a Bible in the night drawer.   

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Subtle, and artful!

Glad someone understands.

[Joe_Campbell]

Glad someone understands.

Explain...'tis too subtle!

[M forever]

Einstein was smart, but there's a reason he's more famous for certain 'other' breakthroughs. How is this any more profound than the argument that our human purposes are modeled after God's?

Because Einstein singlehandedly (or "singlemindedly") has contributed much more to our understanding of the world we live in than any of these prehistorical cults which hold our minds and souls captive.

Plus his comments on the subject are both rational and spiritual. He manages to combine areas of human thought and feeling which for tohers are irreconcileable and which want to you to throw away part of that and just blindly "believe" in whatever they want you to believe. He apparently arrived at a lot of his insights through a combination of rational thinking and a good deal of intuition, which is why he was able to see things no one else could see at that point. His work is a much better example of what the human mind and spirit can really achieve than those people who made up stories about divine beings walking on water or angry gods raining fire from the sky and those who blindly believe and follow these storytellers. As such, he is an example for the best in us while those childish superstitions are examples for our worst sides. Both help us to see the world we live in and ourselves clearer - if we manage to but all that into perspective rather than casting valuable parts of our mental and emotional potential overboard in exchange for the consolation provided by primitive myths. "Childish" is really the best expression for that - and there is nothing wrong with childish when you are in a state of childhood - beyond that, it gets silly.

[Joe_Campbell]

It's amazing how quickly you can swerve just about any topic to what you think you're best at arguing.

[david johnson]

zzzzzzz.  albert holds no sway for me in this area.

dj

[Al Moritz]

Because Einstein singlehandedly (or "singlemindedly") has contributed much more to our understanding of the world we live in than any of these prehistorical cults which hold our minds and souls captive.

Plus his comments on the subject are both rational and spiritual. He manages to combine areas of human thought and feeling which for tohers are irreconcileable and which want to you to throw away part of that and just blindly "believe" in whatever they want you to believe. He apparently arrived at a lot of his insights through a combination of rational thinking and a good deal of intuition, which is why he was able to see things no one else could see at that point. His work is a much better example of what the human mind and spirit can really achieve than those people who made up stories about divine beings walking on water or angry gods raining fire from the sky and those who blindly believe and follow these storytellers. As such, he is an example for the best in us while those childish superstitions are examples for our worst sides. Both help us to see the world we live in and ourselves clearer - if we manage to but all that into perspective rather than casting valuable parts of our mental and emotional potential overboard in exchange for the consolation provided by primitive myths. "Childish" is really the best expression for that - and there is nothing wrong with childish when you are in a state of childhood - beyond that, it gets silly.

Sir Isaac Newton, considered alongside Einstein the greatest physicist of all time, held the Bible in high esteem:

"Though he is better known for his love of science, the Bible was Sir Isaac Newton's greatest passion. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science, and he said, "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.""

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_religious_views)

[Iconito]

Sir Isaac Newton, considered alongside Einstein the greatest physicist of all time, held the Bible in high esteem:

"Though he is better known for his love of science, the Bible was Sir Isaac Newton's greatest passion. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science, and he said, "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.""

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_religious_views)

Well, Al, it’s a proven fact that Newton wasn’t right about everything, so no need to be so harsh with him... 

[Al Moritz]

Well, Al, it's a proven fact that Newton wasn't right about everything, so no need to be so harsh with him... 

Sure, but neither was Einstein 

[drogulus]

Because Einstein singlehandedly (or "singlemindedly") has contributed much more to our understanding of the world we live in than any of these prehistorical cults which hold our minds and souls captive.

Plus his comments on the subject are both rational and spiritual. He manages to combine areas of human thought and feeling which for tohers are irreconcileable and which want to you to throw away part of that and just blindly "believe" in whatever they want you to believe. He apparently arrived at a lot of his insights through a combination of rational thinking and a good deal of intuition, which is why he was able to see things no one else could see at that point. His work is a much better example of what the human mind and spirit can really achieve than those people who made up stories about divine beings walking on water or angry gods raining fire from the sky and those who blindly believe and follow these storytellers. As such, he is an example for the best in us while those childish superstitions are examples for our worst sides. Both help us to see the world we live in and ourselves clearer - if we manage to but all that into perspective rather than casting valuable parts of our mental and emotional potential overboard in exchange for the consolation provided by primitive myths. "Childish" is really the best expression for that - and there is nothing wrong with childish when you are in a state of childhood - beyond that, it gets silly.

     Einstein also said that scientists are the true believers. I don't think he meant they were the only believers. It was more that because they believe in the use of imagination to make discoveries about the real world, they are effective believers. This would be the unity of mind and spirit that I talk about, where you don't separate them into irreconcilable spheres.

     Einstein found a way of talking about these things that recognized their unity. The implication is that one materialist frame of reference could encompass all of existence without leaving anything out. I wouldn't use Einsteins vocabulary to do this, because I'm a bit more sensitive to how the use of religious verbiage gives too many hostages to earlier concepts.

     The best way of understanding Einstein's "childish" idea is to liken it to holding on to scientific concepts that have outlived their usefulness. We don't use ancient medicine or astronomy, so why should we use spiritual concepts that depend on social and political relations that are repugnant to a modern person. It's childish in the Einsteinian sense to imagine a god that tortures its enemies forever, demands slavish servility as a sign of "love" and requires and even enjoys "worship".

     In the movie A Beautiful Mind, the mentally ill mathematician finally arrives at the conclusion that his visitations are not real because they never grow older. In a similar fashion our gods reveal themselves to be ideas or perhaps obsessions that are not allowed to grow up even when we do.

     From the Onion, spiritual Ground Zero for the modern adult:

     Biologists Apologize For Release Of Giant Winged Serpents

      0:)

[Bunny]

Sir Isaac Newton, considered alongside Einstein the greatest physicist of all time, held the Bible in high esteem:

"Though he is better known for his love of science, the Bible was Sir Isaac Newton's greatest passion. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science, and he said, "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.""

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_religious_views)

That's not true.  Newton's beliefs were closer to those of the Unitarian Church than the Church of England.  He felt that the Bible had been corrupted by the Hellenistic philosophies and beliefs current in the first centuries AD.  He was very close to his London neighbor John Clarke who was one of the main figures in the Anti-Trinitarian movement in England.  Most of Newton's Bible studies were probably devoted to finding errors in the scriptures.  He was also close with John Locke, a leading Deist, and one writer wrote that Newton "studied himself into heresy."  Newton never publicly revealed his religious beliefs, in fact Newton rarely made anything he did public.  He had a pathological fear that his work would be stolen.  He never let anyone know that he also dabbled in alchemy, and even his work on calculus was unpublished until Leibniz had published his papers. 

If you are looking for a scientist who is a model of Christian piety, you would do well to choose someone other than Newton.

[Bunny]

Einstein is supposed to have said "God doesn't play dice with the universe." He probably realized that God knows the odds are against him.