>Time.com has published an excerpt of the book Einstein by Walter Isaacson. The book will be published Simon & Schuster, Inc. This excerpt of the book deals with Einstein’s view of God and his perspective on religion. What follows is a small portion taken from the excerpt:

To what extent are you influenced by Christianity? “As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.”

You accept the historical existence of Jesus? “Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”

Do you believe in God? “I’m not an atheist. I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws.”

Next week I will write a post dealing with Einstein’s view of God. My post will be based on the information Isaacson provides on Einstein’s religious views.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Atheism, Einstein, Faith, Religion