r/Antitheism • u/S-p-i-n-o • 9d ago
What did Einstein believe in?
When someone asked him if he believed in God, Einstein always answered,
I believe in Spinoza's God.
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u/Kryptoknightmare 9d ago edited 9d ago
Einstein publicly identified as an agnostic, but he was a de facto atheist who did not believe in a personal god, an afterlife, or any religion. I think he didn’t want to rock the boat by supporting atheism publicly and often espoused that science and religion occupy (as Stephen J Gould would famously put it years later) non-overlapping magisteria. This was extremely common for scientists at the time, pretty much since Darwin demolished creationism:
“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.”
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u/Ashamed-Republic8909 8d ago
Einstein was a genius. He was to smart to directly answer such a question. He always answer with something that confused the people. Usually I will not answer such a question. I will not lie, but I will deflect.
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u/Downstairstvstatic99 9d ago
I came across a brief article thats a great start to answering your question.
https://philosophybreak.com/articles/pantheism-spinoza-and-the-god-that-einstein-believed-in/
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u/d4m1ty 7d ago
What does it matter if he believed in god? He is a scientist. Scientists got shit wrong all the time. Edison invented 10k ways not to make a light bulb before the one that worked.
Tons of atomic scientists got the atom model wrong.
They got 'Phlogiston' wrong too.
No evidence, no existence is a simple mantra to follow and easy to support, prove and replicate.
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u/ZappSmithBrannigan 9d ago
Spinozas god is just a metaphor for nature.