(Article by guest author and new contributor Daniel Lev Shkolnik. See bio below.)
Most people have heard of Albert Einstein’s science. However, few people know about his religion.
Einstein’s achievements in physics irreversibly distorted our concepts of time and space. But physicist Einstein’s discoveries were so monumental that they almost obscured the profound depths of Albert as a person.
Ethically, Albert Einstein is best described as a humanist. After arriving in New York as a refugee from Nazi Germany, he inspired the founding of the International Rescue Committee, which over the course of 80 years has become one of the world’s largest international relief and humanitarian organizations. He had a personal affinity for the ethical ideals embodied by humanist organizations such as the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Throughout his life, Einstein spoke out against nuclear proliferation, war, and racism around the world. But Einstein’s spiritual feelings went beyond mere faith in humanity.
Einstein’s religious ideas were complex and often misunderstood. His famous statement that “God does not play dice” was not an admission of faith. Einstein did not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic God, but he was not strictly an atheist either.
In his book The world I saw, Einstein wrote:
The fairest thing we can experience is the mystical. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who does not know it, who can no longer wonder or feel amazement, is as good as dead… It is this knowledge, this emotion. [of the mysterious] That is what constitutes a truly religious attitude, and in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious person.
Although Einstein was skeptical of anthropomorphic, supernatural views of God, he nevertheless appreciated the central core of religion. His own spiritual concepts did not connect with science, but rather placed his scientific discoveries at the center of his spiritual life. in other places The world I sawEinstein even claimed that “in our materialistic age, the only people who take science seriously are deeply religious people.”
His view of the universe was not supernatural, but could be characterized as a kind of secular mysticism. He believed that there was a rational order to the universe. He did not speculate where this order came from, but marveled that it existed and was comprehensible to the human mind. Einstein understood scientists as a kind of diviner, an interpreter of the divine mystery. He saw the pursuit of science as a process of exploring and revealing the mysterious structure of the universe. Like most mystical pursuits, the scientific pursuit begins with amazement. But while the mystic explores further into his own mind to reveal the truth about the universe within man, the scientist refines the tools of reason to reveal the truth about the outer universe.
How can we apply Einstein’s noble vision of science to our own lives? Most of us can’t abandon our careers to become cutting-edge astrophysicists. We should not worship scientists on our knees or make pilgrimages to their laboratories as if they were sacred sites. The practical spiritual precepts embedded in Einstein’s religious perspective are to respect the order found in the universe and to be in awe of ignorance.
Humans value confidence, certainty, and certainty. But often this desire for certainty is a trap. Voltaire said, “Uncertainty is unpleasant, but certainty is absurd.” It’s hard to know if we know anything for sure. Science gives us the dangerous sense that we have the whole picture of the world, or nearly so. But that might not be true.
As a man at the forefront of his field, Einstein understood better than anyone how much of the universe remains dark and uncertain. He once illustrated his class by drawing a circle on the blackboard. “As the circle of our knowledge expands,” he said, “the circumference of the darkness that surrounds it expands.”
Indeed, the human mind is beginning to understand the universe. But rather than take a seductive leap into certainty, rather than claim privileged knowledge of how the world “really is,” Einstein urges us to be awe-inspiring rather than arrogant. I urged them to continue to hold this in mind. He inspired us to marvel at the gearing of the universe, to observe the mysteries at work around us, to watch the gigantic dance of light unfolding overhead, and to enjoy the wet ballet of cellular life. .
The most honest thing we can do is stand at the door of reality and admit that we don’t know what’s on the other side. If the history of science has taught us anything, it’s that behind every door we open is an even heavier one. On the other hand, if human history has taught us anything, it’s that we always try to pick the lock.
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Bio: Daniel Lev Shkolnik is a humanist speaker and community organizer. He hosts the podcast Re-Enchantment, which explores different ways to find wonder in secular times and promotes humanistic and naturalistic interpretations of spirituality. He has a degree in sociology from Yale University and lives in New Orleans.
