In his comments about the physical laws underpinning the universe, Einstein often used the term “God.” In one of his most famous quotes, challenging Neils Bohr’s interpretation of quantum physics, Einstein asserted, “God does not play dice with the universe.” On another occasion, he expressed his conception of religion, stating:
All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.” In these quotes, Einstein is expressing his conception of religion as the wonderment and awe that we experience in viewing the remarkable symmetries and patterns in our universe.
Such quotes convinced many people that Einstein believed in an all-powerful deity who held humans accountable for their behaviours. However, Einstein did not subscribe to the idea of religion as a set of laws governing admission to a happy afterlife. In one of his letters, he stated:
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modelled after our own–a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of this body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.
In his letter to Banesh Hoffman and Helen Dukas, he stated, “It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I feel also unable to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere.”
Clarifying his use of the term “God” he once wrote:
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. Non interpretation, no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.
In his biography of Einstein, Walter Isaacson wrote that Einstein, when asked whether he believed in an afterlife, responded, “I’ve already had one life, and I don’t need another.”
An interesting insight into Albert Einstein’s views about religion and pacifism is provided by John H. Bunzel, who, at age 23, visited Albert Einstein at his home on Mercer Street. (See: My Evening with Einstein)
