Albert Einstein believed in God

[Mangetout]

One thing that seems to be assumed in all of these discussions:

All of Einstein’s statements that included the word ‘God’ reflected a single concept in his mind, that was the same on every occasion.

It just probably isn’t the case; people change their minds about all sorts of things, also, people might use the same term (‘God’, in this case) as a label for more than one concept, depending on their frame of mind and the context of the situation.

Trying to assemble a single opinion out of all these fragments is probably folly.

[Hyperelastic]

@Albert Einstein

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

No, wait a second, that was the Pope.

Seriously, I doubt Einstein gave it a lot of thought. People seem to have been a little too curious about his religious views. Did he ever write on a religious theme of his own initiative, or did he only answer when asked? I wouldn’t be surprised if someone dug up the following quote

@Albert Einstein

Go pound salt.

[Razncain]

@ITR_champion

It comes from the book Einstein and Religion. Dawkins proudly explains that he got his information about Einstein’s religious views from that same book. (Same chaper, in fact.) So Dawkins knew full well that Einstein said “I am not an atheist”, yet he still chose to tell his readers that Einstein was an atheist. Judging by the responses in this thread so far, no one is going to defend what Dawkins said. (And DMC has already provided a longer text containing the quote.)

If so, you quoted it wrong or the book is wrong on the pantheist part, because DMC’s quote is different from yours. Fantome also pointed this out, and elaborates a bit more with it. That’s why when I typed in that one sentence from your quote, I got zero hits on a google with it, but got plenty with DMC’s. Although the difference is subtle, it’s still important to note the differences of him saying he should not be called a pantheist, to saying he doesn’t think he can call himself a pantheist.

Furthermore, the whole quote including the longer version in your OP is suspect in its authenticity. Here’s a critical cite that gives both pros and cons.

He used both atheist and agnostic terms elsewhere, and when you see who he is addressing and the context, it’s clear as to why he used those terms. Although Einstein didn’t like the fervor of some atheists, and seemed uncomfortable using that term, especially in public, he did use it. But I have yet to see any of his writings where he said he was an Deist thus far. Here are Letters where Raner wrote to Einstein along with follow up, and with Raner asking him specific terms on what he identifies with, with Deism being one of them. I think this would have been a good time for him to mention it here, no?

razncain