Religion is fundamentally misunderstood

Was Einstein an atheist? Doesn't seem so according to some of the things he says.

originally posted by: Chewingonmushrooms
Was Einstein an atheist? Doesn't seem so according to some of the things he says.

Einstein said many things about God and religion, including the following:

In 1945, Einstein received a letter from a man named Guy Rayner who claimed that a Jesuit Priest told him that he had persuaded Einstein to abandon atheism. Einstein replied to Guy Rayner, " I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist."

In 1954, a year before Einstein died, someone wrote to him regarding an article about his alleged religious views. Einstein responded, "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. "

[letter 24th March 1954, from "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann, Princeton University Press. Hereafter "AE:THS"]

From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist

I think that's the key, because according to a Jesuit's point of view I am an atheist as well, and I am certainly not. Sounds like a he shares pantheistic view, I somewhat follow a panentheistic view so I share his sentiment. This of course is different from the monotheistic belief which is dominant in western culture. But his last sentence certainly indicates that he is at the very least agnostic. But I understand what you are saying, it's rather vague. Thanks for the quote, never seen that one before.

originally posted by: charles1952
Any idea how we experience torture death and resurrection from reading a book? Is it just in our imagination, or is everything in the book simply a symbol of something else? If that's the case, then throw the book away. Who can claim with authority that they know what the symbols mean? No one.

The symbols are defined clearly. It's simply a matter of transcription, just like DNA / RNA. It's the point really. A Riddle and a Mystery - Answered

It didn't take long for a few here on ATS to get it. If you want to know the truth of our current story, know the past. Transcribe the letters according to the patterns in the events. Related, every post and thread I have ever written on ATS is confirmed by the letters, even where I was previously incorrect. DNA renders the forms we see. Symbols are rendered from the same archetypes. Parallel to this, the images of the symbols, the physics of our reality and the inner nous we receive all confirm the same level of higher order intelligence revealed to us. There is a point to it all: Reason and Nous

a reply to: Tangerine

Well it sounds like his position is not clear, because Einstein understood that what ever he would have said would be held high and shouted on the roof tops. He was being prudent about his position regarding these matters. Besides these things are personal.

Very interesting. The first paragraph, especially, is a thing of beauty. a reply to: EviLCHiMP