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God Does Not Play Dice: Einstein and Religion

Walter E. Stuermann

Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 28, No. 4. (Oct., 1960), pp. 399-406.

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Mon Apr 9 21:37:57 2007
THE JOURNAL
BIBLE AND RELIGION

Vol. XXVIII October, 1960 No. 4

God Does Not Plav Dice J

Einstein and Religion

WALTER E. STUERMANN*

W
RITING about Xenophon's de- with the photoelectric effect, that is, with the
scription of Socrates, Bertrand quantum law for the emission and absorption
Russell said that "a stupid man's of light. Einstein received the 1922 Nobel
report of what a clever man says is never Prize for this research, and by it he contrib-
accurate, because he unconsciously translates uted to quantum mechanics, from which in-
what he hears into something that he can terpretation of the universe he later departed
under~tand."~ There is no occasion for beg- and discovered himself opposing the greater
ging excuse from this indictment as we at- number of his scientific contemporaries. A
tempt to characterize the Jew of Copernican third of his 1905 articles introduced, under
stature, whose mind was the fulcrum upon the auspices of the formula, E = mc2, con-
which the universe took an unexpected turn siderations which were to lead to the release
and revealed a hidden portion of itself never of atomic energy forty years later. Max Born
before seized by the human mind. has said that the 1905 Year Book is "one of
In the 1905 Year Book of Physics, Albert the most remarkable volumes in the whole
Einstein, at that time an examiner in the of scientific literat~re."~Einstein made it so.
Swiss patent office in Bern, published several The physicist was born in 1879 in Bavaria.
articles on different subjects. One had the His early life was spent in Munich. His
title, "On the Electrodynamics of Bodies in father was a free thinker of Jewish ancestry
Movement." I t was distinguished by the fact who was a partner in an electrochemical
that it quoted no other experts-the writer company. No religious ceremonies were ob-
himself spoke with authority. This was the served in the Einstein home. While suffering
unpretentious birth of the special theory of under what he thought were the coercive
relativity. There was no immediate, wide- procedures of the schools, young Einstein
spread acclaim, although this small paper early acquired an interest in mathematics.
spoke of the Archimedean point by which Not without some difficulties, he entered and
the universe was moved. Later, upon exam- graduated from the Swiss Polytechnic School
ining the paper, a Polish professor at the in Zurich, meanwhile having renounced both
University of Cracow exclaimed, "A new German citizenship and any official ties with
Copernicus has been born !" Judaism. After graduation, he finally secured
A second of the Year Book essays dealt a position as a patent examiner in Bern
(1902). While tending to this "shoemaker's
* DR. STUERMANN is professor of philosophy job," he pursued his research in theoretical
and religion a t the University of Tulsa. His articles
have appeared in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible
physics on the side. When recognition began
and Theology, ETC.: A RPuim of General Se- to come his way, he moved into the universi-
mcmtics, and the American Mathematical Monthly. ties in various professorial and lecturing ca-
400 WALTER E. STUERMANN

pacities. On the application form for the post have grown antipodes. You believe in God
at Prague, he recorded his religious affilia- playing dice and I in perfect laws in the
tion as "Mosaic," though this was evidently world of things existing as real objects,
a concession to the formal application re- which I try to grasp in a wildly speculative
quirements of the state. way."5 The scientist's proclamation that
In 1914 Einstein accepted a research post "God does not play dice with the world"
with the Royal Prussian Academy of Science can guide us to an understanding of several
in Berlin. The year 1915 saw the publication important features of his life and thought.
of a famous paper which set forth the general
theory of relativity. After World War I, he I. His Simplicity and Humility
travelled and lectured in Europe, America, The simplicity and brevity of the remark
and Asia, while continuing his work in the about God is a sign of the general lack of
Berlin Academy. H e did not return to Ger- affectation and the deep humility in his
many after 1933. In that year, he accepted an speech, conduct, and thought.
appointment to the Institute for Advanced In this simple, lucid phrase he is able to
Study in Princeton. There he died in 1955. sum up his difference in perspective from his
Fifteen years before, he had written to Pres- colleagues in a complex field of scientific in-
ident Roosevelt on August 2, 1939. terpretations. On another occasion, when
Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard asked how it was that he did not immediately
which has been communicated to me in manuscript perceive that his early formula, E = mc2,
leads me to expect that the element Uranium may meant that every ounce of matter contained
be turned into a new and important source of such vast energy, he responded with char-
energy in the immediate future. . . . A single bomb acteristic clarity, "If a fabulously rich man
.
of this type . . exploded in a port . . . might
never spends any money, no one can estimate
very well destroy the whole port, together with the
surrounding territory. . . ? the size of his f ~ r t u n e . "Although
~ Einstein's
name has commonly been a symbol of the
Thus, the compact formula, E = mc2, of his extremely intricate and the incomprehensible,
1905 paper found terrifying expression in his writings generally are easily read and his
the miracles and disasters of the atomic era. thoughts are quickly distilled from them. One
When later questioned about his role, he of his biographers, Antonina Vallentin,
responded reluctantly, saying each word sep- rightly said that he had a "horror of unneces-
arately, "Yes, I pressed the b ~ t t o n . " ~ sary words." This infrequently noted trait
On one of his visits to the United States, of the scientist may be confirmed by observ-
Einstein saw his features carved in bas-relief ing, through the veil of translation, the lucid-
at the Riverside Church in New York, the ity and directness of his style and thought in
only living man among hundreds of saints, both The World As I See It and Out of My
scientists, kings, and philosophers who have Later Years, collections of his essays in sci-
most significantly contributed to making the ence, religion, and public affairs. Einstein is
modern world what it is today. On this readable in ways in which Spinoza, Kant,
solemn occasion, his sense of humor proved Hegel, and Wittgenstein are not. He dis-
victor over other sentiments, for he turned played a remarkable facility to express in
to the pastor, saying, "I might have imagined commonly understood words and analogies
that they could make a Jewish saint out of even the most complex topics of theoretical
me, but I never thought I'd become a Prot- physics. Although his style does not have the
estant one !" thunder and lightning of a poetic Nietzsche,
On November 7, 1944, Einstein wrote to it possesses its brevity and lucidity, marks
Max Born, "In our scientific expectation we not generally found among German philoso-
GOD DOES NOT PLAY DICE

phers and scientists, who frequently write in tion from this world's modes of aspiration,
ponderous, complex sentences. dress, and behavior was the passion and
The simple and clear words with which depth of thought hidden within him. In many
Einstein spoke and wrote are symptomatic ways he was a stranger among us, free from
of the simplicity and commonness of his per- the customs and obligations under which we
sonality. H e had a delightful sense of humor, toil. There was also an asceticism about him
loved to converse with children, was devoted which has characterized many men of genius
to his family, and was moved by a deep con- and saintliness. His colleague and friend,
cern for the welfare of others. His generosity Philipp Frank, says that "he always managed
and self-effacing temperament were such as to maintain a certain 'free space' around
often to be costly to his own welfare. To himself which protected him from all dis-
human liberty and enlightenment he was re- turbances, a space large enough to contain a
ligiously dedicated. The ordinary strivings world erected by an artistic and scientific
of men for fame, pleasure, and wealth were imagination."1° Authentic and distinguished
alien to his Spinozistic personality. "Even existence for man is found in the intellect's
when I was a fairly precocious young man," contemplation of the rational structure of the
he said, "the nothingness of the hopes and universe. What counts among men is how
strivings which chases most men restlessly they think and what they think, not how
through life came to my consciousness they dress, whether they receive applause, or
with considerable ~ i t a l i t y . "H
~ e seemed al- how materially prosperous they are. This
ways to be embarrassed by the tide of at- perspective was clearly revealed in his "Au-
tention and honor which swept over him. On tobiographical Notes" in P. A. Schilpp's vol-
occasions he left the impression that to him it ume, Albert Einstein: Philosofiher-Scientist.
was a hilarious joke, just as if the adulation The forty-seven pages in which the scientist
was really intended for someone else. With discloses himself contain only several short
unkempt hair, shrouded in a rumpled paragraphs of personal references and remi-
sweater and unpressed trousers, and with niscences. The remainder is a presentation of
sockless feet reluctantly encased in shoes, he his reflections on and contributions to scien-
spurned the bourgeois formalities and cere- tific thought : an autobiography in mathemat-
monies with which "civilized" life sur- ical equations ! "The essential in the being of
rounded him and sometimes attempted to a man of my type," he said, "lies precisely
smother him. "I believe that a simple and in what he thinks and how he thinks, not in
unassuming manner of life is best for every- what he does or suffers."ll As he once ob-
one," he affirmed, "best both for the body served, he was not cut out for "tandem or
and the mind."s "Attending funerals is some- teamwork."
thing one does to please the people around Not only were his personal bearing and
us. In itself it is meaningless. It seems to me his style simple, but in a real sense his
not unlike the zeal we polish our shoes with thought was also, even his distinctly scientific
every day just so that no one will say we reflections. Perhaps it was profound precisely
are wearing dirty shoes."O With Spinoza he because of its simplicity. His mind penetrated
was inclined to respond to a world which, in to the heart of an issue and, shrugging off
missionary spirit, wanted to make him as- the confusing maze of superficial and confus-
sume the veneer of sophistication, "A man ing details, laid bare the essence of the mat-
is never better for having a fine gown. It is ter. This may be said even of his most notable
unreasonable to wrap up things of little or achievement, the theory of relativity. Defin-
no value in a precious cover." ing precisely the few postulates necessary for
One of the reasons for Einstein's aliena- interpreting motion, in an elegant and short
402 WALTER E. STUERMANN

series of deductions he reconstructed, in the does not play dice" indicates. Its sense is
special theory of 1905, our scientific under- not, however, obvious.
standing of the universe, shattering the New- Physical reality in its mathematical sim-
tonian world view with its doctrines of the plicity was for Einstein an object, not
absoluteness and independence of space and merely of the understanding, but also of the
time. Mathematics, the tool of scientific in- affections. H e says,
quiry, is par excellence the language of pre- Out yonder there was this huge world, which
cision, simplicity, and elegance. In brief and exists independently of us human beings and which
lucid form, through Einstein's idiom it tells stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least
us of the simplicity of nature. How much partially accessible to our inspection and thinking.
more simply can the deep mysteries of mass- The contemplation of this world beckoned like a
liberation, and I soon noticed that many a man
energy relations be expressed than in the whom I had learned to esteem and to admire had
phrase, E = mc2 ? Even when we are pressed found inner freedom and security in devoted oc-
into domains of Einstein's science where our cupation with it. The mental grasp of this extra-
mastery of the mathematical language fails personal world within the frame of the given possi-
us, the impression of the simplicity of both bilities swam as highest aim half consciously and
half unconsciously before my mind's eye. Similarly
the scientific descriptions and of the reality motivated men of the present and of the past, as
described nevertheless pours in upon us, as well as the insights which they had achieved, were
when in the general theory of relativity de- the friends which could not be lost. The road to
ductions commence with the compact little this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring
formula, ds2 = gtkdxtdxk. In Einstein as in as the road to religious paradise ; but it has proved
itself as trustworthy, and I have never regretted
Spinoza, the complexities of the vast and having chosen it."
majestic universe about us are reducible to
very simple categories, when one looks to The search for a meaningful life is a re-
the heart of nature and possesses the proper ligious response, according to the scientist.14
language for describing what he sees. "The H e conceived religion as basically a practi-
most incomprehensible thing about the cal activity. Its function is "to make clear
world," he observed, "is that it is compre- . . . fundamental ends and valuations and
hensible."12 to set them fast in the emotional life of the
While the vigorous and creative energies individual. . . ."15 Moreover, the goal of
of his mind frequently carried him to the religion is service of others: "Man is here
point of divorce from the common walks of for the sake of other men-above all for
life, he exhibited a compassion for the suffer- those upon whose smile and well-being our
ings of his fellow men, an interest in children own happiness depends, and also for the
and students, a sense of humor, a love of countless unknown souls with whose fate
music, and a humility such as has marked we are connected by a bond of sympathy."16
those we have judged as the most saintly Einstein's judgment on the function of re-
among men. Shortly after 1905 the world ligion was very similar to Spinoza's (cf.
recognized that a new Copernicus had been Theologico-Political Treatise). For both of
born. At his death in 1955, it honored, not them, the end of religion was the inculca-
only a man around whose mind the universe tion of obedience.17
had turned, but also one of great integrity, A distinctly humane type of life among
compassion, and humility. men is the object sought by religion, when
it is authentic.
11. His Views of God and Religion
If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and
The word "God" will be found in Ein- Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it, of all sub-
stein's vocabulary, as the subject of "God sequent additions, especially those of the priests,
GOD DOES NOT PLAY DICE 403

one is left with a teaching which is capable of needed, although we cannot be absolutely
curing all the social ills of humanity. I t is the duty certain. The mathematical structure of phys-
of every man of good will to strive steadfastly in ical reality may not itself be Einstein's God
his own little world to make this teaching of pure
humanity a living force, so far as he can." -God is the spirit or mind which conceives
or thinks that structure. For, on occasions he
Einstein therefore counted Buddha and expressed himself thus : "My religion con-
Spinoza as well as Jesus among the select sists of a humble admiration of the illimita-
group of creative and authentic religious ble superior spirit who reveals himself in
personalities. I t is the moral example of the slightest details we are able to perceive
such persons which constitutes one of the with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply
most vigorous and elevating impulses to emotional conviction of the presence of a
selfless religious living. superior reasoning power, which is revealed
In general, Einstein was an opponent of in the incomprehensible universe forms my
institutionalized religion with its creeds and idea of God.'j21 The personal pronouns
ceremonies-in short, with its stifling at- "who" and "himself" were evidently inad-
mosphere of conformity and coercion, which vertent inexactitudes, for the evidences over-
he hated so intensely. While holding to a whelmingly testify that his God was as im-
religious position which may be termed personal as Spinoza's. In other passages, he
ethical idealism, he nevertheless recognized unequivocally rejected the ideas that God
that the high moral values which enrich our can assume attitudes, will reward or punish
lives are communicated to us in the Judeo- the objects of creation, and that the indi-
Christian tradition. Consequently, he fre- vidual survives the death of his body.22 In-
quently assumed a favorable attitude toward telligence is manifest in the universe, but not
the historical religious heritage of the West, providential care. W e may add a phrase,
as when he invested his prestige and ener- then, to the incisive Einsteinian aphorism
gies in Zionist activities. The substance of inscribed in Fine Hall, Princeton, and say,
our traditional religious values is, according "God is subtle, but it is neither benevolent
to him, nor malicious." A short paragraph, "On
free and self-responsible development of the indi- Scientific Truth," from Einstein's World
vidual so that he will freely and joyfully put his As I See I t will further illumine his convic-
energies at the service of the community of man. tions about God and truth. Notice again the
If attention is paid to the content and not to the
form, the same words may be considered as the mention of Spinoza in the passage.
expression of the fundamental democratic prin-
(1) I t is difficult even to attach a precise meaning
ciple."
to the term "scientific truth." So different is the
meaning of the word "truth" according to whether
How did Einstein think of God? On one we are dealing with a fact of experience, a math-
occasion, Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein cabled ematical proposition, or a scientific theory. "Reli-
him, "Do you believe in God?" With charac- gious truth" conveys nothing clear to me at all.
teristic brevity and frankness, Einstein re- (2) Scientific research can reduce superstition by
sponded, "I believe in Spinoza's God, who encouraging people to think and survey things in
terms of cause and effect. Certain it is that a con-
reveals himself in a harmony among all peo- viction, akin to religious feeling, of the rationality
ple, not in a God who worries about the or intelligibility of the world lies behind all
destiny and actions of men."20 It is not scientific work of a higher order.
unfair, then, to say that the term "God" ( 3 ) This firm belief, a belief bound up with deep
feeling, in a superior mind that reveals itself in
designated, for the physicist, the mathe-
the world of experience, represents my conception
matical-like, impersonal structure of physi- of God. In common parlance this may be described
cal reality. Perhaps one modification is as "pantheistic." (Spinoza)
404 WALTER E. STUERMANN

(4) Denominational traditions I can only consider entiae. "Science, at its greatest, is identical
historically and psychologically; they have no other with religion, at its most sublime,"26 he as-
significance for me.*
serted. The most important function of art
There are a number of references in and science is to awaken this feeling in men
Einstein's writings to a "cosmic religious and to nourish it.27 Moreover, by the ener-
experience." In The World As I See It, he gies of this feeling, men are moved to cre-
described rather inadequately three stages ative scientific thought.
in the genealogy of religion. First, among The cosmic religious experience is the strongest
primitive men, fear evoked religious ideas and the noblest, deriving from behind scientific
and practices. Second, we discover in his- research. No one who does not appreciate the
terrific exertions, the devotion, without which
tory the emergence of a social and moral pioneer creation in scientific thought cannot come
conception of God, who exercises providen- into being can judge the strength of the feeling
tial care over his creatures. This God is out of which alone such work, turned away as it is
conceived anthropomorphically. Third, in from immediate practical life, can grow.
What deep faith in the rationality of the structure
the case of the cosmic religious experience,
of the world, what a longing to understand even
there is no anthropomorphically conceived a small glimpse of the reason revealed in the world,
God who is the object of the feeling. there must have been in Kepler and Newton!"
The individual feels the nothingness of human de- Science, religion, and art are three expres-
sires and aims and the sublimity and marvellous sions of the love of God. That love of di-
order which reveal themselves both in Nature and
vinity consists in an understanding of and
in the world of thought. He looks upon individual
existence as a sort of prison and wants to experi- affection for the elegant simplicity of
ence the universe as a single significant whole. thought deposited in physical reality. In an
The religious geniuses of all ages have been address in Berlin on the occasion of Max
distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, Planck's 60th birthday, Einstein asserted
which knows no dogma and no God conceived in
man's image; so that there can be no church whose
that "the state of mind which enables a man
central teachings are based on it. Hence it is to do work of this kind [involving extraor-
precisely among the heretics of every age that we dinary will power and discipline directed to
find men who were filled with the highest kind of the most general scientific problems] is akin
religious feeling and were in many cases regarded
to that of the religious worshipper or the
by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also
as saints." lover; the daily effort comes from no delib-
erate intention or programme, but straight
Einstein called this experience mystical. In from the heart."2D The roots of science are
his judgment, it is the source of true art found in this feeling. Science, in turn, puri-
and science as well as the fountain of au- fies the religious impulse of primitive and
thentic religious living. It is Spinoza's in- outrageous anthropomorphisms. In addition
tellectual love of God. But, for both Ein- to this negative function, science positively
stein and Spinoza, the affections as well as contributes to "a religious spiritualization of
the intellect are wrapped up in it. The cos- our understanding of life."30 "Science with-
mic religious feeling is truly a state of awe, out religion is lame, religion without science
and in it man finds true humanity. Not to is blindln31 he said, perhaps dredging up
experience it is to be as good as dead. And from memory at this point the Kantian dic-
"in this sense, and in this sense only," says tum, "Concepts without percepts are empty,
Einstein, "I belong to the ranks of devoutly percepts without concepts are blind." Both
religious men."25 science and religion will perish in the ab-
Einstein's cosmic religious feeling is not sence of the cosmic religious feeling.
only the via mystica; it is also the via sci- Einstein's pacifism, with its testimonies to
GOD DOES NOT PLAY DICE 405

his fellow feeling and his social concern, the humanitarian and cultural benefits out-
must be left aside. A few observations weighed these unsatisfactory results.34 "I
should be made, however, about his connec- believe," he said, "that the existence of a
tions with the Zionist movement. Although Jewish cultural center will strengthen the
he loosed himself from institutionalized re- moral and political position of the Jews all
ligion and maintained a critical attitude to- over the world, by virtue of the very fact
ward the traditional conception of God, he that there will be in existence a kind of em-
found himself moved by the conspiracy of bodiment of the interests of the whole Jew-
circumstances, especially in Germany, to ish people."36 Einstein felt deeply the obli-
identify himself with the Jewish commu- gation of the Jews to place at the disposal of
nity. In the 1930's he said, "It was when I mankind their intellectual and moral herit-
came to Germany, fifteen years ago, that I age in order that the struggle for peace and
discovered that I was a Jew and I owe this humane behavior might prove victorious.
discovery more to non-Jews than to Jewsw3* Those who are raging today against the ideals of
The everlasting longing for independence, reason and individual liberty and are trying to
the cultivation of creative intellectual enter- establish a spiritless state-slavery by brute force
prises, and the love of justice among the rightly see in us their irreconcilable foes. History
Jews "prove to me that it is my destiny to has given us a difficult row to hoe; but so long as
we remain devoted servants of truth, justice, and
belong to thern.'ls3 Einstein became friends liberty, we shall continue not merely to survive as
with Chaim Weizmann after World War I. the oldest of living peoples, but by creative work
H e then helped those supporting the Zionist to bring forth fruits which contribute to the en-
movement, though he never officially joined noblement of the human race, as heretoforem
the movement itself and was never a politi-
cal Zionist. His motives were chiefly of a 111. Conclusion
humanitarian nature. Above all, the Hebrew Philipp Frank observes that one of Ein-
University in Jerusalem interested him. stein's most characteristic traits was
Consequently, his first trip to the United
his intractable hatred of any form of coercion arbi-
States in 1921 was for the purpose of rais- trarily imposed by one group of people on another.
ing funds for the University and the Zionist He detested the idea of the oppressor preventing
movement. the oppressed from following their inclinations and
The nature of Einstein's religious orienta- developing their natural talents, and turning them
tion dictated that his Zionist sympathies into automatons. On the other hand Albert was
also conscious of the natural laws of the universe;
would be of a general cultural and human- he felt that there are great eternal laws of
itarian character. To him Judaism was not a nature. . . . This dual attitude-hatred for the
creed. I t was a way of serving men and arbitrary laws of man and devotion to the laws of
sanctifying life. Nor was Judaism a political nature- . . . accompanied Einstein throughout his
entity, in his opinion. H e would only go so life and explains many of his actions that have
been considered peculiar and in~onsistent.~
far as to concede that a Palestinian center
for Judaism would give unity and direction The laws, eustoms, and expectations of
to the ongoing cultural life of Jews every- men are part of the face of nature. Reality
where. In Zionism, we discover a technique or God lies hidden beneath. In this Spino-
for creating a feeling of self-respect among zistic deity, we find the natural habitation of
Jews and also for providing a refuge, creative reason and the object of the cosmic
though an inadequate one, for homeless peo- religious feeling. Nothing in this world-
ples. H e recognized that, while his position the principalities and powers of politics, eco-
occasionally gave strength and prestige to nomics, race, or organized religion--can co-
Jewish nationalism and religious orthodoxy, erce men whose spirits, liberated from the
WALTER E . STUERMANN

bonds of this world, are caught up in the ' Max Born, "Einstein's Statistical Theories,"
intellectual love of God. Einsfein: Philosopher-Scientist, edited by P. A.
Schilpp (Evanston, Illinois : Library of Living
Some of the symbols of liberation and Philosophers, Inc., 1949), p. 163.
union with the divine in Einstein were non- ' Philipp Frank, Einstein:His Life and Times
conformist dress, world-shattering thoughts, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947), p. 291.
compassion for his fellow men, a sense of ' Antonina Vallentin, The D s m o f Albert Ein-
stein (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1954), p.
the ridiculousness of conventional behavior, 271.
and a deep humility. The signs that he Wax Born, "Einstein's Statistical Theories," in
could not completely escape flesh and P. A. Schilpp, op. cit., p. 176.
blood, and indeed felt obliged to participate Vallentin, op. cit., p. 262.
in the contests of this world, were his sup- 'Einstein, "Autobiographical Notes," in P. A.
Schilpp, op, cit., p. 3.
port of pacifism, his dedication to Zionist 'Albert Einstein, et al., Living Philosophies
ideals, his participation in the League of (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1931), p. 4.
Nations, his contest against those "cool Frank, op. cit., p. 80.
blond people [who] . . . have no psycho- "Ibid., p. 113.
"Einstein, "Autobiographical Notes," in P. A.
logical comprehension of others," and his
Schilpp, op. cit., p. 33.
courage and realism in deciding, contrary to " Vallentin, op. cit., p. 39.
his personal feelings, to press the button "Einstein, "Autobiographical Notes," in P. A.
which signaled the opening of the atomic Schilpp, op. cit., p. 5.
era. "Einstein, The World A s I See I t (New York:
Covici, Friede Publ., 1934), p. 237.
I n his use of mathematics as the key to "Einstein, Out of M y Later Years (New York:
an understanding of nature, his view of Philosophical Library, 1950), p. 22.
physical reality, his faith in the competence "Living Philosophies, p. 3.
of reason, his interpretation of the divine, '' eg.,Frank, op. cit., p. 287.
his attitude toward organized religion and " The World A s I See It, p. 170.
its function, and his personality and con-
"
20
Frank, op. cit., p. 288.
Vallentin, op. cit., p. 102.
duct, Einstein was a twentieth-century Spin- =Lincoln Barnett, The Universe and Dr. Einstein
oza. Just as in Spinoza's case, subsequent (New York: Mentor Books, 1955), p. 118; cf.
generations will turn in the verdict that he also Frank, op. cit., pp. 283-284.
was, despite his failure to live up to ortho- " e.g., Living Philosophies, pp. 6-7.
* The World A s I See It, pp. 29-30.

dox expectations, a genuinely religious per- " The World A s I See It, pp. 264-265.

son. Observe how well Friedrich Schleier- " Frank, op. cit., p. 284.

macher's tribute to Spinoza applies to him. 'Kristol, "Einstein : The Passion of Pure Rea-

son," Commentary, 10, 3, p. 221.


The high World-Spirit pervaded him; the In- The World A s I See It, p. 265.
finite was his beginning and his end; the Universe "Frank, op. cit., p. 284.
was his only and his everlasting love. In holy in- " T h e World A s I See It, p. 23.
nocence and in deep humility he beheld himself " O u t of M y Later Years, p. 29.
mirrored in the eternal world, and perceived how he 8' Frank, o p cit., p. 286.
also was its most worthy mirror. He was full of Vallentin, o j . cit., p. 93.

religion, full of the Holy Spirit. Wherefore, he " Ibid., p. 95.

stands there alone and unequalled; master in his 24 Frank, op. cit., p. 149.

art, yet without disciples and without citizenship, =C. 0. Peare, Albert Einstein: A Biography fot
sublime above the profane tribe.3s Young People (New York: Henry Holt, 1949),
p. 70.
The World A s I See It, p. 143.
REFERENCES Frank, op. cit., pp. 8-9.
Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Phi- '' F. Schleiermacher, O n Religion: Speeches to
losophy (New York : Simon and Schuster, 1945), Its Cultured Despisers (New York: Harper and
p. 83. Bros., 1958), p. 40.

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