Albert Einstein’s ‘God Letter’ Was Auctioned For $3M, It Reveals His Eye-Opening Stance On Religion
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On December 4th, Albert Einstein’s “God letter”, addressed to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, was auctioned off for $2,892,500 and became the most expensive Einstein letter ever sold.
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Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who transformed humankind’s understanding of nature and the universe. He laid the foundation for modern physics and changed the views on space, time, energy and mass. He is best known for proposing the theory of relativity and his mass-energy equivalence formula. In 1921 Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics “for his services to theoretical physics and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”.
However, his achievements in physics were not his only contributions people took interest in. Einstein’s views on religion have always been of interest, as many people sought to understand his beliefs. Finally, in 2008 a letter was released to the public, in which the famous scientists made a powerful statement on religion.
This testimonial of the famous scientist’s views on religious was written in January of 1954, just a year before his death. The so-called “God letter” was addressed to Gutkind as a response to his book “Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt”.
The letter became one of a few sources that defined Einstein’s stance on religion.
Read the English translation of the letter below
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Albert Einstein makes a hell of a lot more sense than God or gods.
My brain hurts after reading a few words and skipping it all to write this comment...XD
Go back and read it all - a brilliant mind telling it like it is. Although I had to google "monotheism" I learned one fact this afternoon
I did and I got it. Smart guy.
@Beth Taccia - I am only outspoken regarding my own beliefs, or lack of. I am always interested to learn something new. I knew what monotheism was. I just didnt know there was a term for it. You dont need to know what the technical term for something is in order to understand it's structure and principles.Words were only invented after all. Genocide occured before it was given a modern name.
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You seem very outspoken about religion for someone who didn't know what monotheism was before yesterday. Interesting.
My guess is that Einstein didn't convince Gutkind to change his beliefs just as Gutkind didn't convince Einstein. And if you didn't believe in God before now, Albert just reinforced your view and if you believed in God, he likely didn't change anything. So, really, in the grand scheme, nothing new here.
So, the only reason to discuss something with someone is the hope to convince the other person that you are right and they are wrong ?!? You can't just exchange points of view, agree to disagree and have a good time getting to know someone better ? Different people with different mindsets can like to talk to each other, just to get a glimpse of the way THEY see the world, inside and out !
Did I say don't discuss it? No. I'm making an observation and a guess on the outcome of Einstein's letter. But it seems a lot of people here, when it comes to religious postings on Bored Panda, wants to use it to bash others who don't believe the way they do. There doesn't seem to be much discussion going on, just yelling.
@Nosfentor that's not what confirmation bias is, you're using the term wrong. Stating that religous debates rarely if ever result in someone changing their views can only really be the opinion of someone who has a confirmation bias if he's ignoring all the cases in which these debates do end with theists/Atheists changing their minds which you don't really see happening. With all that said I do personnelly like these sort of debates.
Anarkzie: That was a typo actually. Got mixed up responding to someone else.
Misterscooter: There are a lot of people who benefit from these kind of discussions. Myself included. Did it ever occur to you that these type of debates make people think critically about these serious topics? If you don't like it, go read something else.
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Just like any of y'all can't convince me that god is real. I left the religion after being told to pray for forgiveness after I attempted suicide. I mean, who says that to a 12 year old? 'god' never helped me. A cycologist did. Science people. That's what's real.
God told me that i have to smite all these peope. it is gods word therefore I have no responibility
Maloney - I could probably unconvince you
Oh gosh yes god pursuaded someone to execute his oldest son. today he would have been tried for murder but hey ho - it's god so its fine - NEXT?
god didnt have words - or did he?
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where is your proof?
Then you are close minded and not worth discussing this topic with.
@Misterscooter I do think that was the point was it not? That is to say, I read the letter as Einstein stating his counter beliefs to Gutkind respectfully and suggesting there may be other topics that they can agree on that would make for enjoyable conversations should they ever meet. He was basically saying "I respect your opinion, although I do not agree with it, and I respect your intelligence enough not to attack your beliefs." At least, that's what I got out of this.
Well - if you believe in any god that tells you it is permissible to smite all those who believe in "false gods" then I really wouldnt like to know you. So, really, in the grand scheme, ignorant bigots will be ignorant bigots.
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Misterscooter: Wait, he didn't call you an ignorant bigot. He said just because you are religious doesn't necessarily make you a bigot.
How did you go from my observation to calling me an ignorant bigot. I'm talking about the nature of debate that usually happens when discussing religion in public forum. Your comment seems to reinforce that.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
C: Which they do all the time. It's not our fault that these people cannot keep their batshit crazy beliefs to themselves.
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Wow. I don't think I was disagreeing with anyone here since I didn't come down on either side of the argument. But you obviously saw something in it that you disagreed with. Seems to prove my point.
I was merely agreeing with your statement and pointing out that you are stating nothing new, either. You can call that a win if you want to. It's all good.
Albert Einstein makes a hell of a lot more sense than God or gods.
My brain hurts after reading a few words and skipping it all to write this comment...XD
Go back and read it all - a brilliant mind telling it like it is. Although I had to google "monotheism" I learned one fact this afternoon
I did and I got it. Smart guy.
@Beth Taccia - I am only outspoken regarding my own beliefs, or lack of. I am always interested to learn something new. I knew what monotheism was. I just didnt know there was a term for it. You dont need to know what the technical term for something is in order to understand it's structure and principles.Words were only invented after all. Genocide occured before it was given a modern name.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
You seem very outspoken about religion for someone who didn't know what monotheism was before yesterday. Interesting.
My guess is that Einstein didn't convince Gutkind to change his beliefs just as Gutkind didn't convince Einstein. And if you didn't believe in God before now, Albert just reinforced your view and if you believed in God, he likely didn't change anything. So, really, in the grand scheme, nothing new here.
So, the only reason to discuss something with someone is the hope to convince the other person that you are right and they are wrong ?!? You can't just exchange points of view, agree to disagree and have a good time getting to know someone better ? Different people with different mindsets can like to talk to each other, just to get a glimpse of the way THEY see the world, inside and out !
Did I say don't discuss it? No. I'm making an observation and a guess on the outcome of Einstein's letter. But it seems a lot of people here, when it comes to religious postings on Bored Panda, wants to use it to bash others who don't believe the way they do. There doesn't seem to be much discussion going on, just yelling.
@Nosfentor that's not what confirmation bias is, you're using the term wrong. Stating that religous debates rarely if ever result in someone changing their views can only really be the opinion of someone who has a confirmation bias if he's ignoring all the cases in which these debates do end with theists/Atheists changing their minds which you don't really see happening. With all that said I do personnelly like these sort of debates.
Anarkzie: That was a typo actually. Got mixed up responding to someone else.
Misterscooter: There are a lot of people who benefit from these kind of discussions. Myself included. Did it ever occur to you that these type of debates make people think critically about these serious topics? If you don't like it, go read something else.
This comment has been deleted.
Just like any of y'all can't convince me that god is real. I left the religion after being told to pray for forgiveness after I attempted suicide. I mean, who says that to a 12 year old? 'god' never helped me. A cycologist did. Science people. That's what's real.
God told me that i have to smite all these peope. it is gods word therefore I have no responibility
Maloney - I could probably unconvince you
Oh gosh yes god pursuaded someone to execute his oldest son. today he would have been tried for murder but hey ho - it's god so its fine - NEXT?
god didnt have words - or did he?
This comment has been deleted.
where is your proof?
Then you are close minded and not worth discussing this topic with.
@Misterscooter I do think that was the point was it not? That is to say, I read the letter as Einstein stating his counter beliefs to Gutkind respectfully and suggesting there may be other topics that they can agree on that would make for enjoyable conversations should they ever meet. He was basically saying "I respect your opinion, although I do not agree with it, and I respect your intelligence enough not to attack your beliefs." At least, that's what I got out of this.
Well - if you believe in any god that tells you it is permissible to smite all those who believe in "false gods" then I really wouldnt like to know you. So, really, in the grand scheme, ignorant bigots will be ignorant bigots.
This comment has been deleted.
Misterscooter: Wait, he didn't call you an ignorant bigot. He said just because you are religious doesn't necessarily make you a bigot.
How did you go from my observation to calling me an ignorant bigot. I'm talking about the nature of debate that usually happens when discussing religion in public forum. Your comment seems to reinforce that.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
C: Which they do all the time. It's not our fault that these people cannot keep their batshit crazy beliefs to themselves.
This comment has been deleted.
Wow. I don't think I was disagreeing with anyone here since I didn't come down on either side of the argument. But you obviously saw something in it that you disagreed with. Seems to prove my point.
I was merely agreeing with your statement and pointing out that you are stating nothing new, either. You can call that a win if you want to. It's all good.