{"id":550,"date":"2008-05-13T08:40:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-13T07:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/05\/einstein-religion-is-childish-superstition.html"},"modified":"2014-11-14T05:32:14","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T04:32:14","slug":"einstein-religion-is-childish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/05\/einstein-religion-is-childish.html","title":{"rendered":"Einstein: religion is “childish superstition”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sometimes Einstein is put forward as an example of an eminent scientist who was also a religious believer. What he did or did not believe has literally been the subject of books (Max Jammer, Einstein and Religion) , as well as websites<\/a> and magazine articles<\/a>. What he actually believed is complex and changed over time, but seems essentially to have been a vague spiritual feeling linked to strong humanist values (no life after death, no active deity).<\/p>\n

But today there\u2019s something new to add to the mix: a letter he wrote in 1954 (a year before he died) to the philosopher Eric Gutkind. According to The Guardian<\/a>, the letter has been in a private collection for 50 years, unknown to historians who have researched Einstein\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

In the letter, he states: \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More grist to the mill!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes Einstein is put forward as an example of an eminent scientist who was also a religious believer. What he did or did not believe has literally been the subject of books (Max Jammer, Einstein and Religion) , as well as websites and magazine articles. What he actually believed is complex and changed over time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEinstein: religion is "childish superstition"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes Einstein is put forward as an example of an eminent scientist who was also a religious believer. 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