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Along with Newton, Einstein also saw no conflict between his science and
religion. The following quotes, much abridged, are from A. Einstein, Ideas and
Opinions, Dell, NY, 1956.
<<You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds
without a religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religiosity
of the naive man. For the latter, God is a being from whose care one hopes to
benefit and whose punishment one fears . . . . But the scientist is possessed
by the sense of universal causation. . . . His religious feeling takes the
form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an
intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic
thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.>> (p.
49)
<<Certain it is that a conviction, akin to religious feeling, of the
rationality or intelligibility of the world lies behind all scientific work of a
higher order. This firm belief . . . in a superior mind that reveals itself in the
world of experience, represents my conception of God. In common parlance this
may be described as 'pantheistic'.>> (p. 255)
<<The main source of the present-day conflicts between the spheres of
religion and of science lies in this concept of a personal God.>> (pp. 55)
I find it particularly interesting that Einstein uses "mind" and
"intelligence" in describing his belief.
Ted Ansbacher
Science Services
29 Byron Ave, White Plains, NY 10606
Office: 914-328-5407 Cell: 914-484-8584
[log in to unmask] www.scienceservs.com
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