This morning you were reading Quora and there was a question and response you found interesting. You immediately sent it on to Doug who also did not know this and found it interesting also. – Amorella
1228 hours. I have the comment:
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Quora Answer written •
Science
• 30 Jan
Is this quote from Einstein, "The more I know the science the more I believe in God", and if it is, what was the meaning of it?
Darius Larouche, I've been interested in science for a many years.
632 Views [author of the question]
Einstein's is often mistaken for an atheist or agnostic concerning god, which he was, but he was referring to a personal god (a god having the traits of a person). Concerning a personal god, he was agnostic.
However, and this is the part some misunderstand. Einstein, by all indications seems to have believed in an IMPERSONAL god (one without human traits). So, given the fact that Max Jammer, a fellow, physicist actually knew him and discussed god at length with him, we must consider him a primary source on the beliefs of Einstein. And Jammer's book is a primary source, the most reliable.
Einstein's statements about god seem to fall more in line with the god of panentheism, rather than pantheism.
LET US CONSIDER EINSTEIN'S GOD
See the 1954 quote which is often misunderstood:
From the 1954 quote:
"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 ..."
This is the part that many people misunderstand. He believed in an impersonal god.
According to Jammer, “Einstein always protested against being regarded as an atheist. ”Einstein takes the opposite point of view: “A legitimate conflict between science and religion cannot exist. Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.”
Max Jammer was a personal friend of Einstein and a Professor of Physics
Below you will see Einstein’s repeated references to “a superior spirit”, ”a superior mind”, "a spirit vastly superior to men”, ”a veneration for this force” etc. etc. This is not atheism. It is clear Einstein believed that there is something beyond the natural, physical world – a supernatural creative intelligence. Further confirmation that Einstein believed in a transcendent God comes from his conversations with his friends. David Ben-Gurion, the former Prime Minister of Israel, records Einstein saying “There must be something behind the energy.” And the distinguished physicist Max Born commented, “He did not think religious belief a sign of stupidity, not unbelief a sign of intelligence. Einstein did not believe in a personal God, who answers prayers and interferes in the universe. But he did believe in an intelligent mind or spirit, which created the universe with its immutable laws.
The following quotations from Einstein are all in Jammer’s book:
“Behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force is my religion. To that extent, I am in point of fact, religious.”
“Every scientist becomes convinced that the laws of nature manifest the existence of a spirit vastly superior to that of men.”
“Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.”
“The divine reveals itself in the physical world.”
“My God created laws… His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking but by immutable laws.”
“I want to know how God created this world. I want to know his thoughts.”
“What I am really interested in knowing is whether God could have created the world in a different way.”
“This firm belief in a superior mind that reveals itself in the world of experience, represents my conception of God.”
“My religiosity consists of a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit, …That superior reasoning power forms my idea of God.”
Selected and edited from this morning’s Quora. The italics and bolding are the author’s not mine. [quoraDOTcom]
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Also, I am including the Wikipedia introductory definition of
Panentheism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with pantheism.
Panentheism (meaning "all-in-God", from the Ancient Greek πᾶν pân, "all", ἐν en, "in" and Θεός Theós, "God"), also known as Monistic Monotheism, is a belief system which posits that the divine – whether as a single God, number of gods, or other form of "cosmic animating force” – interpenetrates every part of the universe and extends, timelessly (and, presumably, spacelessly) beyond it. Unlike pantheism, which holds that the divine and the universe are identical, panentheism maintains a distinction between the divine and non-divine and the significance of both.
In pantheism, the universe and everything included in it is equal to the Divine, but in panetheism, the universe and the divine are not ontologically equivalent. God is viewed as the soul of the universe, the universal spirit present everywhere, in everything and everyone, at all times. Some versions suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifest part of God. In some forms of panentheism, the cosmos exists within God, who in turn “transcends”, "pervades" or is "in" the cosmos. While pantheism asserts that 'All is God', panentheism goes further to claim that God is greater than the universe. In addition, some forms indicate that the universe is contained within God, like in the concept of Tzimtzum. Much Hindu thought is highly characterized by panentheism and pantheism. Hasidic Judaism merges the elite ideal of nullification to paradoxical transcendent Divine Panentheism, through intellectual articulation of inner dimensions of Kabbalah, with the populist emphasis on the panentheistic Divine immanence in everything.
Selected and edited from Wikipedia
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Carol is finishing up the Sunday paper. The day is sunny and in the fifties. Later, dude. Post. - Amorella
1321 hours. I would like to use some aspects of this between the lines as far as the character souls are concerned.
That took some time to bubble up into consciousness. - Amorella
That took some time to bubble up into consciousness. - Amorella
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