On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Sriram Karra <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Even Einstein believed in God. >> >> Kiran >> > > If "God" refers to a supernatural power who created and sustains the > world and listens to prayers and doles out favours to the faithful, > then Einstein certainly did not believe in God. > > Richard Dawkins' God Delusion goes into this very misconception in some > detail.
Now that I have my copy with me, I can give the following Einstein quotes reproduced by Dawkins: "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." "I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion. I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or a goal, or anything that could be understood as anthropomorphic. What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism. The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive." Dawkins refers to Max Jammer's "Einstein and Religion" as his source for these, and other, Einstein quotes. I have not read Jammer.
