Jesus Christ poetically embellished in the Bible as according to Albert Einstein when his conversation with Professor William Hermanns in 1943.
So what do think?
Is it true that Jesus Christ is poetically embellished in the Bible?
Albert Einstein did not believe in a personal God who is able to control the lives of each of us.
Einstein found it odd that the so-called God is the one who created humans, and ‘He’ is also the one who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous.
Many people are still debating over this late twentieth century’s greatest theoretical physicist’s religion.
Einstein referred to his belief as “cosmic religion“.
He hinted at his pantheism; the idea that “God is everything”.
In one of the quotes below, Einstein told a Rabbi,that he believed in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.
He also said that he was fascinated by Spinoza’s Pantheism.
The thing is Einstein said a lot of things about God and religion.
In 2018, Albert Einstein’s hand-written letter contains reflections on God, the Bible and Judaism was auctioned for $3m. source
Einstein 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.”
You can find the similar quotation below.
Jesus Christ Poetically Embellished In Bible
If you are fascinated and would like to find out more about Albert Einstein views on God and religion, then read through the quotations below:
“I cannot then believe in this concept of an anthropomorphic God who has the powers of interfering with these natural laws.” – Albert Einstein
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds.” – Albert Einstein
“Meine Religion besteht aus einer demütigen Bewunderung des unbegrenzten überlegenen Geistes, der sich in den kleinen Details offenbart, die wir mit unserem schwachen und schwachen Verstand wahrnehmen können.” (German)
“To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious.” – Albert Einstein
“Zu empfinden, dass hinter dem Erlebbaren ein für unseren Geist Unerreichbares verborgen sei, dessen Schönheit und Erhabenheit uns nur mittelbar und in schwachem Widerschein erreicht, das ist Religiosität. In diesem Sinne bin ich religiös.” (German)
Note: Another English translation is:
“To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms — this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of devoutly religious men.” – Albert Einstein
“We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library, whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God.” – Albert Einstein
“…the most beautiful and most profound religious emotion that we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. And this mysticality is the power of all true science. If there is any such concept as a God, it is a subtle spirit, not an image of a man that so many have fixed in their minds.” – Albert Einstein
“My position concerning God is that of an agnostic. I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment.” – Albert Einstein
“I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own — a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty.” – Albert Einstein
“It was the experience of mystery – even if mixed with fear – that engendered religion.” – Albert Einstein
“Wer es nicht kennt und sich nicht mehr wundern, nicht mehr staunen kann, der ist sozusagen tot und sein Auge erloschen. Das Erlebnis des Geheimnisvollen wenn auch mit Furcht gemischt–hat auch die Religion gezeugt.” (German)
“I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves.” – Albert Einstein
“Einen Gott, der die Objekte seines Schaffens belohnt und bestraft, der überhaupt einen Willen hat nach Art desjenigen,den wir an uns selbst erleben, kann ich mir nicht einbilden.” (German)
“A God who rewards and punishes is for him unthinkable, because man acts in accordance with an inner and outer necessity, and would, in the eyes of God, be as little responsible as an inanimate object is for movements which it makes.” – Albert Einstein
“Ein Gott, der belohnt und bestraft, ist für ihn schon darum undenkbar, weil der Mensch nach äußerer und innerer gesetzlicher Notwendigkeit handelt, vom Standpunkt Gottes aus also nicht verantwortlich wäre, sowenig wie ein lebloser Gegenstand für die von ihm ausgeführten Bewegungen.” (German)
“The only deeply religious people in our largely materialistic age are the earnest men of research.” – Albert Einstein
“I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil…” – Albert Einstein
“I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death, or blind faith.” – Albert Einstein
“Man’s plight would, indeed, be sad if he had to be kept in order through fear of punishment and hope of rewards after death.” – Albert Einstein
“Feeling and desire are the motive forces behind all human endeavour and human creation, in however exalted a guise the latter may present itself to us.” – Albert Einstein
“Denn Fühlen und Sehnen sind der Motor alles menschlichen Strebens und Erzeugens, mag sich uns letzteres auch noch so erhaben darstellen.” (German)
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” – Albert Einstein
“Wissenschaft ohne Religion ist lahm, Religion ohne Wissenschaft ist blind.” (German)
“Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish.” – Albert Einstein
(Einstein On Cosmic Religion And Other Opinions & Aphorisms, With Appreciation By George Bernard Shaw, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2009, Ch. IV. Opinions And Aphorisms, Miscellaneous, P. 53) source
“I, at any rate am convinced that He is not playing at dice.” – Albert Einstein
“Jedenfalls bin ich überzeugt, daß der nicht würfelt.” (German)
Note: Another English translation is:
“In any case, I am convinced that He does not throw dice.” – Albert Einstein
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.” – Albert Einstein
“Das Wort Gott ist für mich nichts als Ausdruck und Produkt menschlicher Schwächen, die Bibel eine Sammlung ehrwürdiger aber doch reichlich primitiver Legenden.” (German)
“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.” – Albert Einstein
“God does not care about our mathematical difficulties; He integrates empirically.” – Albert Einstein
“Gott kümmert sich nicht um unsere mathematischen Schwierigkeiten. Er integriert empirisch.” (German)
“I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of all that exists, but not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich glaube an den Gott Spinozas. An den Gott, der sich in der gesetzmäßigen Harmonie der Welt offenbart, nicht an den Gott, der sich für das Schicksal und die Tätigkeiten der Menschen interessiert.” (German)
“I am a deeply religious nonbeliever…. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.” – Albert Einstein
“Man wird zum tief religiösen Ungläubigen…Dies ist eine einigermaßen neue Art von Religion.” (German)
“It is quite possible that we can do greater things than Jesus, for what is written in the Bible about him is poetically embellished.” – Albert Einstein
“I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich kann mir keinen persönlichen Gott denken der die Handlungen der einzelnen Geschöpfe direkt beeinflusste oder über seine Kreaturen direkt zu Gericht sasse.” (German)
“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are mere details.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich möchte wissen, wie Gott diese Welt erschaffen hat. Mich interessiert nicht dieses oder jenes Phänomen im Aufbau von diesem oder jenem Element. Ich möchte seine Gedanken kennen. Das übrige sind unwichtige Einzelheiten.” (German)
“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” – Albert Einstein
“Das ethische Verhalten des Menschen ist wirksam auf Mitgefühl, Erziehung und soziale Bindung zu gründen und bedarf keiner religiösen Grundlage. Es stünde traurig um die Menschen, wenn sie durch Furcht vor Strafe und Hoffnung auf Belohnung nach dem Tode gebändigt werden müssten.” (German)
“I just see with great dismay that God punishes so many of His children for their ample folly, for which obviously only He Himself can be held responsible; I think, His nonexistence alone can excuse Him.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich sehe nur mit viel Be- dauern, dass Gott so viele seiner Kinder straft für deren reichliche Thorheit, für die doch nur er selbst verantwortlich gemacht werden kann; ich finde, dass ihn nur die Nichtexistenz entschuldigen kann.” (German)
“Before God we are relatively all equally wise – equally foolish.” – Albert Einstein
“I do not accept a religion of fear; My God will not hold me responsible for the actions that necessity imposes.” – Albert Einstein
“I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws.” – Albert Einstein
“Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” – Albert Einstein
“Es stünde traurig um die Menschen, wenn sie durch Furcht vor Strafe und Hoffnung auf Belohnung nach dem Tode gebändigt werden müssten.” (German)
“Whatever there is of God and goodness in the universe, it must work itself out and express itself through us. We cannot stand aside and let God do it.” – Albert Einstein
“… a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance and loftiness of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation.” – Albert Einstein
“Eine religiöse Person ist in dem Sinn fromm, daß sie an der Existenz jener überpersönlichen Objekte und Ziele nicht zweifelt die keiner rationalen Begründung bedürfen und von ihr auch nicht faßbar sind.” (German)
“Morality is of the highest importance – but for us, not for God.” – Albert Einstein
“Moral ist eine wichtige Sache, aber für uns, nicht für Gott.” (German)
“…there are the fanatical atheists whose intolerance is of the same kind as the intolerance of the religious fanatics and comes from the same source…They are creatures who… cannot bear the music of the spheres.” – Albert Einstein
“I am not an atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds.” – Albert Einstein
“I just see with great dismay that God punishes so many of His children for their ample folly, for which obviously only He Himself can be held responsible; I think, His nonexistence alone can excuse Him.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich sehe nur mit viel Bedauern, dass Gott so viele seiner Kinder straft für deren reichliche Thorheit, für die doch nur er selbst verantwortlich gemacht werden kann; ich finde, dass ihn nur die Nichtexistenz entschuldigen kann.” (German)
“I have found no better expression than “religious” for confidence in the rational nature of reality, insofar as it is accessible to human reason. Wherever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich habe keinen besseren Ausdruck als den Ausdruck “”Ich habe keinen besseren Ausdruck als den Ausdruck “religiös” für dieses Vertrauen inn die vernunftige und der der menaschlichen Vernunft wenigstens einigermassen zugangliche Beschaffenheit der Realitat. Wo dieses Gefuhl fehlt, da artet Wissenechaft in geistlose Empirie aus.” (German)
“If God created the world, his primary concern was certainly not to make its understanding easy for us.” – Albert Einstein
“Falls Gott die Welt geschaffen hat, war seine Hauptsorge sicher nicht, sie so zu machen, dass wir sie verstehen können.” (German)
“Nature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse.” – Albert Einstein
“Die Natur verbirgt ihr Geheimnis durch die Erhabenheit ihres Wesens, aber nicht durch List.” (German)
“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.” – Albert Einstein
“I don’t try to imagine a God; it suffices to stand in awe of the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.” – Albert Einstein
“”Ich versuche nicht, mir einen persönlichen Gott vorzustellen; es reicht, aus wenn man voller Staunen vor dem Aufbau der welt steht, so weit sie unseren unzureichenden Sinnen gestattet, sie einzuschätzen.” (German)
“A man’s moral worth is not measured by what his religious beliefs are, but rather by what emotional impulses he has received from Nature during his lifetime.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich denke, daß der moralische Wert eines Menschen wenig davon abhängt, was er glaubt, sondern davon, was er von der Natur an emotionalen Impulsen auf den Lebensweg mitbekommen hat.” (German)
“What humanity owes to personalities like Buddha, Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the enquiring and constructive mind.” – Albert Einstein
“The valuation of life and all its nobler expressions can only come out of the soul’s yearning toward its own destiny.” – Albert Einstein
“If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.” – Albert Einstein
“Wenn man das Judentum der Propheten und das Christentum wie es Jesus Christus gelehrt hat, von allen Zutaten der Späteren insbesondere der Priester, loslöst, so bleibt eine Lehre übrig, die die Menschheit von allen sozialen Krankheiten zu heilen imstande wäre.” (German)
“The question should rather be: How far is it reasonable and justifiable to assume the existence of an unperceivable being? I see no justification for the introduction of such a concept. In any case, it does not facilitate the understanding of the orderliness we find in the perceivable world.” – Albert Einstein
“Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot.” – Albert Einstein
“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.” – Albert Einstein
“My comprehension of God comes from the deeply felt conviction of a superior intelligence that reveals itself in the knowable world.” – Albert Einstein
“What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.” – Albert Einstein
“Was mich eigentlich interessiert, ist, ob Gott die Welt hätte anders machen können, das heißt, ob die Forderung der logischen Einfachheit überhaupt eine Freiheit läßt.” (German)
“One strength of the communist system of the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion.” – Albert Einstein
“Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of Nature, and therefore this holds for the actions of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a supernatural Being.” – Albert Einstein
“What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of “humility.” This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.” – Albert Einstein
“Was ich in der Natur sehe, ist eine grossartige Struktur, die wir nur sehr unvollkommen zu erfassen Vermögen und die einen vernünftigen Menschen mit einem Gefühl von “Humility” erfüllen muss. Dies ist ein echt religiöses Gefühl, das nichts mit Mystizismus zu schaffen hat.” (German)
“What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos.” – Albert Einstein
“My feeling is religious insofar as I am imbued with the consciousness of the insufficiency of the human mind to understand more deeply the harmony of the universe which we try to formulate as “laws of nature.” – Albert Einstein
“Mein religiöses Gefühl liegt in der Bewunderung der Harmonie, die sich in den Naturgesetzen zeigt.” (German)
“God gave me the stubbornness of a mule and a fairly keen scent.” – Albert Eisntein
“Gott ist unerbittlich darin, wie er seine Gaben verteilt hat. Mir hat er die maultierhafte Starrnackigkeit gegeben und sonst nichts; das heißt, die Nase hat er mir auch gegeben.” (German)
Note: All the above Albert Einstein thoughts on God and religion are quoted from authentic and reliable sources.
*Here is a selection of Albert Einstein views on education and teaching style quoted from various credible sources.