Friday, a handwritten letter that Einstein wrote a year before passing sold at an auction to the hightest bidder for $404,000. The person who is the coveted new owner is said to be someone with “a passion for theoretical physics and all that that entails.”

The letter was written by Einstein to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954. In the letter Einstein writes “the word of 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.”

This is proof of Einstein’s agnostic views and his disapproval of organized religion and belief in a force of a spiritual nature that exists in the Universe. This is from the man who introduced the law of relativity which talks about how a large amount of energy could be released from a tiny amount of matter. This theory was a major milestone in physics and great accomplishment for Albert Einstein.

Everything we need is within us. It cannot be taken away. Not a building, or an event will give us more or less. It is already within. This is proof that one of the most intelligent Scientist’s to ever live, with a clear belief in the Universal Spirit, was a step beyond the rest and very much ahead of his time.

(Foto de Max Sparber)

Los periódicos del pasado 14 de mayo hacían coincidir dos noticias llamativas. Por una parte, una afirmación de la Iglesia de Roma con algunas repercusiones en su doctrina oficial. Y, por otra, unas revelaciones de Albert Einstein sobre la religión de las que hasta ahora no se sabía nada. Más picadillo para la empanda mental que en materia religiosa siempre se está cocinando el Duende.

 La fuente en el primer caso es el astrónomo del Vaticano. Este jesuita, un argentino llamado José Gabriel Funes, parece tener más predicamento que el referido específicamente a su ciencia. Escudriñando el cielo con su preclaro telescopio, ha llegado a la conclusión de que se puede creer al mismo tiempo en Dios y en los extraterrestres. La afirmación ha llenado de gozo a gran parte de la grey católica militante en la zona gris de la fe, o sea, la fe fetén ma non troppo. Este tipo de creyentes vivía francamente atormentada por la obligación de creer que E.T. era menos criatura divina que canallas como los que integran junta militar de Birmania o pájaros como el jefe de la policía local de Coslada. No podía admitirse tanto contradios. 

 Pero claro, cualquier reforma en la doctrina viste un santo para desnudar a otra. A un creyente  a machamartillo, como los que tanto le gustan al padre Bonete, le asaltan ahora dudas que nunca tuvo. ¿En cuál de los siete días que relata el Génesis creó Dios a los extraterrestres? Otrosi,  si la oración del credo habla del Dios creador del cielo y de la tierra, en ella no caben estas extrañas criaturas, que tampoco estaban censados en el arca de Noé. Por otra parte, si es cierto que  Dios hizo al hombre a su imagen y semejanza, ¿a semejanza de quién se le ocurrieron los extraterrestres?. Más dudas: cuando el astrónomo da carta naturaleza a los extraterrestres es porque, en buena lógica, tiene prueba de ello. Y si éstos se han manifestado es en razón de su inteligencia superior, puesto que el hombre no ha sido capaz de hacerlo sino en la Luna y en Marte, donde no hay bicho viviente. ¿Quién es ese Superdios que pilota a los extraterrestres? Jesús, qué lío.

 Al mismo tiempo, se desvela ahora que el gran cerebro del siglo XX creía que Dios y la religión no son más que una expresión de la debilidad humana. Y que la Biblia es una  colección honorable, pero primitiva (sic) de leyendas infantiles. Lo anota así en una carta enviada al filósofo Eric Gutkind el 3 de enero de 1954, y publicada esta misma semana por el diario The Guardian. Tal como se reproduce, parece que las afirmaciones del sabio alemán lo son para escándalo de los creyentes. Al Duende, que está lleno de buenas intenciones, pero que sólo cree que cree, no le escandalizan nada, y le parecen bien traídas. El encaje entre las grandes verdades de las religiones y las aún más enormes y sangrantes contradicciones que uno ve en este mundo son tan difíciles de racionalizar como el ratón Pérez o los Reyes Magos.

  Claro que Dios es muy superior a estos cuentos, y presenta mejor hoja de servicios. Pero hay que reconocer que, para ser tan bueno y tan sabio, a menudo se expresa bastante mal.

Beau constat de la part d’Albert Einstein dans une lettre qu’il envoya le 3 janvier 1954 au philosophe Eric Gutkind.   Certains grands penseurs de la fin du XIXe, début XXe siècle en arrivèrent au même constat.  Pour Karl Marx la religion était l’opium du peuple, une façon d’endormir la conscience, alors que pour Freud, la croyance en Dieu n’était nul autre que la manifestation d’une psychose collective.   Quand on y pense bien la croyance en un être suprême n’est-elle pas là pour meubler l’absence de réponses rationnelles face à un phénomène. À une certaine époque l’homme étant incapable d’expliquer la cause de la foudre et du tonnerre trouva une explication simpliste dans la croyance au Dieu Zeus, le dieu grec de la foudre.  Cela simplifie les choses et évite à l’homme de chercher plus loin une explication.  Dieu n’est au fond qu’un mot de quatre lettres que l’on dépose sur le vide de ce que l’on ne peut expliquer.

Should we surrender our fate to a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Famine, Pestilence and Death), by Viktor Vasnetsov (1887).

The Old Testament: Fiction, Farce, Fallacy or Forgery?

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel [note that there was no such entity as Israel at the time when this is supposed to have happened,] how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” (I Samuel 15:2-3)

Ox and sheep, camel and ass? What have they done, Lord? Can we shoot their moose, polar bear, and poison their water supply, too?

[FYI, the LORD of hosts has since denied any connection with I Samuel 15:2-3. He said in a concerned voice: "I have nothing to do with the Book of Exodus and all other fiction in that series, and have never advocated the slaying of anything, especially not "man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." ]

(Source) The Exodus as described in the Book of Exodus, is the departure and emancipation of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. Led by Moses and Aaron, the Hebrew slaves …

The Hebrews moved from Canaan into Egypt when Joseph was vizier of Egypt. …] Hebrews spent another four hundred years growing and multiplying. At the end of these 400 years, a new king rose in Egypt who didn’t know of Joseph. He enslaved the Hebrews and compelled them to perform much manual labor intensive work [Note: Historically, there absolutely no evidence of this claim.] … Moses, in exile from Egypt for murdering an Egyptian while defending a Hebrew slave [note that Moses was merely exiled, even though he, a "Hebrew slave," had murdered an Egyptian "master"] received a call from God [last week a friend of the author also received a call from God, who said that HE never contacted Moses, and had no idea who he was] to free the Hebrew people … Moses attempted to negotiate with Pharaoh, who was not receptive… Moses, under God’s instruction, called forth a series of ten plagues [God categorically denied any knowledge of this claim, too, and said HE was a committed pacifist and hated biological warfare.]  The Pharaoh, enduring most of the plagues, would not let the Hebrews go, however the final plague, in which the firstborn sons of the Egyptians were taken, made the Pharaoh agree to free the Hebrews …

“And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the Land of Egypt.”

However, the Pharaoh changed his mind soon after they undertook their journey and sent soldiers after the Hebrews. They escaped however, after Moses’ famed miraculous parting of the Red Sea [God said: "If you believe the total nonsense... you deserve Hollywood!"] Once they had crossed the sea, the water returned and caught the following Egyptians as they tried to turn back. … Significant events occurred at these early locations or ’stations’, including the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, along with the remainder of Mosaic law. [Psychoactive hallucinogenic stuff brewed from Acacia tree and the bush Peganum harmala ?]

Exodus

Exodus 12:37 refers to 600,000 adult Hebrew men leaving Egypt with Moses, plus an unspecified but apparently large number of non-Hebrews (“A mixed multitude also went up with them” – Exodus 12:38); allowing for women and children, the total number involved may have been two million or more. Egypt at the time might have supported a total population of around 3-4 million, maybe even up to 6 million; in any event, the numbers given in Exodus 12:37 seem to represent something between half and almost the entire probable population of Egypt.

[Why is] Moses smashing the Tables of the Law? A painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

The logistics of the Exodus also present problems. Recent archaeological research has found no evidence that the Sinai desert ever hosted millions of people, nor of a massive population increase in Canaan, estimated to have had a population of between 50,000 and 100,000, at the end of the march.

Non-historical theories

Many archaeologists, including Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever, regard the Exodus as non-historical. … In his book, The Bible Unearthed, Finkelstein points to the appearance of settlements in the central hill country around 1200 BCE, recognized by most archaeologists as the earliest settlements of the Israelites.

Biblical minimalists, such as Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche and Thomas L. Thompson, regard the Exodus as ahistorical.

The findings of modern archaeologists may present a challenge for Orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians. The Exodus and the subsequent Conquest of Canaan that the chronologies of the archaeologists seem to plainly diverge from those that may be derived from known versions of the Bible …

The strong negative reaction to leading Conservative Rabbi David Wolpe’s 2001 Passover speech, where he plainly stated that the Exodus did not happen … (Source)

But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. (Today’s English Version: Deuteronomy 20:16-17)

A Letter From A. Einstein to Eric Gutkind

An abridgment of the letter from Albert Einstein to Eric Gutkind from Princeton in January 1954, translated from German by Joan Stambaugh.

… I read a great deal in the last days of your book, and thank you very much for sending it to me. What especially struck me about it was this. With regard to the factual attitude to life and to the human community we have a great deal in common.

… 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. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.

In general I find it painful that you claim a privileged position and try to defend it by two walls of pride, an external one as a man and an internal one as a Jew. As a man you claim, so to speak, a dispensation from causality otherwise accepted, as a Jew the priviliege of monotheism. But a limited causality is no longer a causality at all, as our wonderful Spinoza recognized with all incision, probably as the first one. And the animistic interpretations of the religions of nature are in principle not annulled by monopolisation. With such walls we can only attain a certain self-deception, but our moral efforts are not furthered by them. On the contrary.

Now that I have quite openly stated our differences in intellectual convictions it is still clear to me that we are quite close to each other in essential things, ie in our evalutations of human behaviour. What separates us are only intellectual ‘props’ and ‘rationalisation’ in Freud’s language. Therefore I think that we would understand each other quite well if we talked about concrete things. With friendly thanks and best wishes

Yours, A. Einstein (Source)

Why Must Otherwise Intelligent Humans Surrender their Fate to a Farcical, Fallacious, Forged, Fictitious and Violent Storybook?

Related Reading:

Moses high on Mt Sinai: Israeli study
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/04/2179961.htm

Did the Red Sea Part? No Evidence, Archaeologists Say! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.html

Who Built the Pyramids? Not slaves.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2003/07/who-built-the-pyramids.html

Strictly speaking, there has never been any clear evidence discovered in Egypt, or elsewhere, to support the Israelite Exodus from Egypt!
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/egyptexodus.htm

Those Amazing Biblical Numbers: Taking Stock of the Armies of Ancient Israel by William Sierichs, Jr.
http://www.theskepticalreview.com/tsrmag/1num95.html

[T]here is clear and definitive evidence that a group of Semitic foreigners lived in Egypt for a considerable period – however, they were there not as slaves, but as rulers. http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/otarch2.html

The Dark Bible
http://www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/darkbible3.htm

Evil Bible
http://www.evilbible.com/

Is God real, or is he imaginary?
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/

More About the Bible

• The Bible vs. Modern Science
• One hundred contradictions in the bible
• Explaining The Bible
• Merry Bloody Christmas
• The Bible A Dangerous Moral Guide
• A Supernatural War Criminal

Related Posts:
coming soon!

Related Links:

• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• ‘Clever Hans’ effect
• Observer-expectancy effect
• Hawthorne effect
• Placebo effect
• Pygmalion effect

• Old Testament
• Apocalypse
• Antichrist
• Second Coming
• Christian eschatology, Eschatology, End time

• Christian theology
• Church
• Prophesy
• Bible
• Biblical canon

• Futurism
• Christian Preterism
• Books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation
• Tribulation
• Rapture