See other Religion Articles
Title: Belief in God 'childish,' Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter
Source:
Yahoo News
URL Source: [None]
Published: May 13, 2008
Author: not stated
Post Date: 2008-05-13 12:14:53 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 636
Comments: 21
LONDON (AFP) - Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954. As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people". "The 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," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper. The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell. In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people. "For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said. "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." And he added: "As far as my experience goes, they are 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." Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith. Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: christine (#0)
See...it is common place to be brilliant and a colossal idiot at the same time ! I hazard that Einstein has a different opinion today...
Some side views of Einstein and his character. He left Germany and went to Switzerland to avoid the draft. (Does that sound familiar for his people) In Switzerland one of his friends and daily coffee klatch people was..Lenin... a fellow atheist. Einsteins wife received no credit but did MOST of the math work for him.
I forgot to add that the famous letter written by Einstein to Roosevelt concerning the a-bomb, was NOT written by him, rather it was penned by Leo Szilard, Einstein merely added his signature.
really?
What does he mean?
Einsteins wife was Hungarian and he kept her in the background out of sight. She was a math whiz and did the grunt work as he was too lazy, They had one idiot child, no others as I recall.
really? www.amazon.com/Einsteins-...John-Target/dp/B0000C509M When Albert Einstein died in 1955 he left behind a remarkable scientific legacy, and an extraordinary secret. In 1986 love letters were discovered which revealed a marriage hidden in the shadows for more than 30 years. Before moving to America in 1933 with his second wife and first cousin Elsa, Einstein had married his university sweetheart and scientific collaborator Mileva Maric. Einstein, contrary to popular belief, did not work alone in the years leading to the great scientific achievements of 1905. Maric, a brilliant mathematician, collaborated with him on three famous works: Browian Motion, Special Relativity Theory and Photoelectric Effect, which won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. Until now, this collaboration was erased from history. Drawing on long-hidden documents, love letters and biographies, "Einstein's Wife" pieces together a partnership of extraordinary passion and intellect that led to one of the greatest theoretical breakthroughs in the twentieth century.
Thanks for that. I pulled from olde memory what I could recall. You are indeed quick on the uptake.
When Mileva Maric turned 15, her father got special permission for her to take classes at an all-male prep school. She earned the highest grades in both math and physics, and started studying medicine in 1896. Soon after, she became only the fifth woman to be accepted at the prestigious Zurich Polytechnic, later known as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). That’s all to say that she was one smart cookie. One of her classmates was Albert Einstein. Seventeen years old, he was just a boy. She was 21. He called her Dollie. She called him Johnny. Einstein’s parents opposed the relationship because she was too old, too bookish, disabled from birth because of a displaced hip, a Serb, and not Jewish. Her grades started suffering and Mileva failed her final exams. Shortly after, she became pregnant. In the first of a lifelong series of horribleness, Einstein began to make excuses not to see her. Mileva gave birth to a daughter, Lieserl, and there is no record of Albert ever going to see the child. A year later, they were married, but when Mileva joined Albert in Bern to be married, the child was no longer with her. Either she died or was given up for adoption— no one knows. Einstein’s most incredible year of work—1905—came during his marriage to Mileva, a woman about whom not much was known until the later publication of love letters between the two in which Einstein talks about “our work” and “our theory” and praises her intelligence. The argument still rages—did Mileva substantively contribute to his work? Did she actually do the math for him, as some say? Did she give up her life for him? As Mileva wrote to her friend, Helene, “…all that fame does not leave a lot of time for a wife. But what can be done, one person gets the pearl and the other just gets the shell?" http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2008/03/women-give-up-t.html
There are photos somewhere of Einstein and his fellow communist, Vladimir Lenin hiding in Switzerland to avoid the law.
Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP. Perhaps Einstein's comments were stated at an earlier age before he had delved fully into physics. He died in 1955, one year after his letter. I'd say that physicists of all scientists might find it difficult to be or stay religious people.
Mike, you and 2012 are making me look bad. Thanks for a good job.
Thanks to everyone for this fascinating 'new' information for me.
Einstein was a plagiarist. An Italian engineer named Depretto published his E = mc2 in an Italian engineering journal. Friends of Einstein saw and it and sent it to him in Switzerland where he promptly claimed it as his own. I remember posting the original article here on forum some time back.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
I had not read of that before. Einstein was much of a manufactured myth.
This about Dipretto.... "The mathematical equation that ushered in the atomic age was discovered by an unknown Italian dilettante two years before Albert Einstein used it in developing the theory of relativity, it was claimed yesterday. Olinto De Pretto, an industrialist from Vicenza, published the equation E=mc2 in a scientific magazine, Atte, in 1903, said Umberto Bartocci, a mathematical historian. Einstein allegedly used De Pretto's insight in a major paper published in 1905, but De Pretto was never acclaimed, said Professor Bartocci of the University of Perugia. De Pretto had stumbled on the equation, but not the theory of relativity, while speculating about ether in the life of the universe, said Prof Bartocci. It was republished in 1904 by Veneto's Royal Science Institute, but the equation's significance was not understood. A Swiss Italian named Michele Besso alerted Einstein to the research and in 1905 Einstein published his own work, said Prof Bartocci. It took years for his breakthrough to be grasped. When the penny finally dropped, De Pretto's contribution was overlooked while Einstein went on to become the century's most famous scientist. De Pretto died in 1921. "De Pretto did not discover relativity but there is no doubt that he was the first to use the equation. That is hugely significant. I also believe, though it's impossible to prove, that Einstein used De Pretto's research," said Prof Bartocci, who has written a book on the subject".
scoundrel!
I guarantee he does.
I guarantee he does. Maybe not quite yet. Doesn't there have to be a ressurection first?
Yes. That is one of the things (among many) that always makes me ask "how come". How come we have to have wars, killing, handicapped people, abused children. My blessing answered many questions for myself, my family and some friends but it also has caused myself and my wife to ask why also. As weak and crummy a human being as I was (my wife says I wasn't as bad as I think I was) I never said I don't believe or I don't accept and I have no doubt that is why I am still here. I've had a few pastors suggest that my wife and I write a book about what we have been blessed to learn and come to know. That's not to say everything has been perfect, far from it. There are negatives such as I don't have any sense of smell, the way food tastes changes often from hour to hour and I can become emotioal in a heartbeat because of lack of supressors. But I know I wouldn't undo it for all Bill Gates wealth or for a perfectly healthy body.
The love of money?
Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition"
#2. To: christine (#0)
The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.
#3. To: christine (#0)
#4. To: Cynicom (#2)
Einsteins wife received no credit but did MOST of the math work for him.
#5. To: christine (#0)
And he added:... although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power.
#6. To: christine (#4)
#7. To: christine, Cynicom (#4)
Einsteins wife received no credit but did MOST of the math work for him.
#8. To: TwentyTwelve (#7)
Einstein, contrary to popular belief, did not work alone in the years leading to the great scientific achievements of 1905. Maric, a brilliant mathematician, collaborated with him on three famous works: Browian Motion, Special Relativity Theory and Photoelectric Effect, which won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921.
#9. To: christine (#4)
(Edited)
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." Robert F. Kennedy
#10. To: TwentyTwelve, Christine (#7)
#11. To: christine (#0)
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.
#12. To: Ferret Mike (#9)
#13. To: The Thread (#12)
#14. To: christine, scrapper2, Cynicom (#4)
#15. To: Horse (#14)
An Italian engineer named Depretto published his E = mc2 in an Italian engineering journal.
#16. To: Horse, christine, scrapper2 (#14)
Horse...thanks for this, I love it when I learn something new.
#17. To: Horse (#14)
Einstein was a plagiarist. An Italian engineer named Depretto published his E = mc2 in an Italian engineering journal. Friends of Einstein saw and it and sent it to him in Switzerland where he promptly claimed it as his own.
#18. To: FOH (#1)
I hazard that Einstein has a different opinion today...
#19. To: bush_is_a_moonie (#18)
I hazard that Einstein has a different opinion today...
#20. To: Old Friend (#19)
#21. To: bush_is_a_moonie (#20)
How come we have to have wars, killing, handicapped people, abused children.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest