Einstein's God letter to be sold -- opening bid $3million

[Tom]

Source

Religious apologists cannot entirely be blamed for claiming Albert Einstein as one of their own. He was fond of quoting "God" as a poetic metaphor, in rather irresponsible fashion although, to be fair in turn to Einstein, he couldn't have anticipated the extent of today's dishonest quote-mining. So it is good to see this letter, written shortly before his death, which should lay to rest, once and for all, the eager myth that Einstein believed in God. Along with various other sources, this letter finally confirms that Einstein was, in every realistic sense of the word, an atheist. When the letter came up for auction in London, in 2008, I made a futile attempt to buy it as a gift for the Richard Dawkins Foundation. I could offer only a small fraction of the eventual price, and even that was far less than the $3M now being asked as a minimum. I hope that whoever wins this auction will display it prominently, complete with translations into English and other languages.

Key Passages:

... I read a great deal in the last days of your book, and thank you very much for sending it to me. What especially struck me about it was this. With regard to the factual attitude to life and to the human community we have a great deal in common.

... 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. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. 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. 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.

In general I find it painful that you claim a privileged position and try to defend it by two walls of pride, an external one as a man and an internal one as a Jew. As a man you claim, so to speak, a dispensation from causality otherwise accepted, as a Jew the privilege of monotheism. But a limited causality is no longer a causality at all, as our wonderful Spinoza recognized with all incision, probably as the first one. And the animistic interpretations of the religions of nature are in principle not annulled by monopolization. With such walls we can only attain a certain self-deception, but our moral efforts are not furthered by them. On the contrary.

Now that I have quite openly stated our differences in intellectual convictions it is still clear to me that we are quite close to each other in essential things, i.e; in our evaluations of human behavior. What separates us are only intellectual 'props' and 'rationalization' in Freud's language. Therefore I think that we would understand each other quite well if we talked about concrete things.

With friendly thanks and best wishes,

Yours, A. Einstein

This blew my mind. This is 'controversial' speak by todays standards and to think he [Albert Einstein] wrote it in 1954, it just provides a whole new dimension of holy ****.

[Growled Member]

It is an intriguing look into the mind of one of the world's few geniuses, but it's still not worth $3m.

[compl3x]

Oh well, religious apologists still have Sir Isaac Newton to use as an appeal to authority.

[mudslag]

It is an intriguing look into the mind of one of the world's few geniuses, but it's still not worth $3m.

That's subjective.

[Phouchg]

It is priceless, and having no other practical use, it should be preserved somewhere safe rather than being made a target for obscenely rich coc... ehrmm posers, who most likely aren't able to literary understand half of it. Auctions of unique items are a bane of humanity.

[Growled Member]

That's subjective.

True, but in the end it's just a piece of paper to me.

[johnk3]

I'd have to say it seems clear that Einstein is Athiest. He says in the letter:

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses,"

"For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."

How much more clear can he be?

Possibly the smartest man in history says there is no God... I agree with Dante that it's priceless

[The-Wyyl]

I bet many of the great thinkers and scientists of yesteryear were atheists or even at the very least deists. They invoked god, or intelligent design, as a last resort because they were at wits end and had nothing else to explain the cosmos other than the often used, 'If something exists, then that something must have a creator'. They didn't have all the wonderful technology and computers we have today to study extraordinary experiments and build theories based on evidence.

Many, too, had to keep their ideas to themselves for fear of being branded heretics or blasphemous. And if there is an afterlife, I'd like to meet these thnkers and take up conversation with them since there are always questions that will rage on: Why are we here? What is good/bad? etc.

[TPreston]

Don't worry the revisionists have already covered this up with "the student versus the professor" :rofl:

[blade1269]

I'd have to say it seems clear that Einstein is Athiest. He says in the letter:

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses,"

"For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions."

How much more clear can he be?

Possibly the smartest man in history says there is no God... I agree with Dante that it's priceless

Jesus said

I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the father but by me..

[Dick Montage]

Jesus said

I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the father but by me..

And?

Also "Supposedly"

[Original Poster]

I like this and he is right ... though I like the stories in the bible I also like other mythologies as well... thats all they are stories to explain things that the current times level of scientific understanding could never comprehend or simply refused to comprehend ... magic and religion is simply science we have yet to or refuse to understand.

[TPreston]

jesus said...

jesus never said a god dammed thing until you can prove he existed and even if you can push that cripple over the race to be a prophet finish line its only after all the other loons have already finished.

Point being if your standard of evidence is this low anyone in an insane asylum can be a prophet.

[shakey]

Jesus also said "Everything on the internet is truth. Seek it out, and have many caterdays of bliss!"

[Noir Angel]

Jesus said

I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the father but by me..

You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don?t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself plainly when you have need of him.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Alkaban

- Quote by Albus Dumbledore

There we have it. Proof of Dumbledore

[SongHyeonDeok]

It's sad to see not even Einstein can avoid these religious god verus no god debates/articles.

[Detection]

Why pay millions for something that is more or less already public knowledge, ie. OP ?

And even if there is a lot more of it, why would anyone want to pay millions for it ? It's not going to hold the secrets of the universe, he was clever, he was not God