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What Einstein Said
Sunday, in sacrament meeting, a speaker related a story about an atheist college professor that belittled a student's belief in God because, the professor said, God must have created evil. Another student then replied with a line of questioning that led to the embarrassment of the professor. That other student, we were told, was Albert Einstein.
That sounded fishy to me because (i) the story was sent to the speaker by a friend (presumably via email), (ii) although I haven't read a lot about Einstein, my understanding was that he did not believe in a personal God, and (iii) difficult issues like the problem of evil are rarely solved by a couple of simple witty arguments.
As expected, the top hits on my Google search say that the story is a modern legend (here and here). The second site claims that Einstein's name was appended to an already circulating story in about 2004. Of course, if anybody can show that the story is authentic, I would be interested.
Speaking of spurious Einstein quotes, there is one circulating to the effect that Einstein thought James Talmage was one of the smartest men alive. This is also not true [1].
Here is an authentic quote from Einstein, that I like.
The Albert Einstein Memorial Statue is located in Washington D.C., at the National Academy of Sciences. I have visited the monument.
The statue is accompanied by this quotation (among others):The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.
1. The Essential James E. Talmage - I don't own this book, but my recollection is that the story is debunked in it.
5 comments:
Here is the reference that you cite:
"Many myths have circulated over the years regarding [Talmage]. Perhaps the most prevalent is that noted physicist Albert Einstein said he was the smartest man in the world, or words to that effect. This is not true. Although the two scientists were contemporaries, neither crossed the other's path during his lifetime.82 Although Talmage was a competent geologist, he was primarily an educator" (xxxii).
82 To investigate this claim, I contacted Dennis Rowley, who said after a thorough review of the Talmage journals and other papers, he found no evidence for this claim. I also inquired at Princeton University (where Einstein taught). To date, no mention of Talmage has been found in the papers of Albert Einstein. Finally, John R. Talmage, the last living child of Elder Talmage, reported to me that the rumor was not true.
Einstein's God was the God of Spinoza. So you're right. No personal God. Although to be fair I'm not sure that eliminates the problem of evil which is hardly limited to a personal God.
I can't speak for Einstein but for Spinoza his solution to the problem of evil was to say good and evil didn't exist for God. They are tied to dispositions. So what pleases us is good and what displeases us is evil.
I did some quick Google searches and they all suggested Einstein didn't really get involved in thinking about the problem of evil.
It does seem to me, however, that as I read about Einstein, his comments about God reflect a belief in a human-like God that has a strong personality. For example, "Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not." This seems like it goes beyond a merely Deistic view.
Justin,
I thought you might turn up with the relevant quote. Thanks!
Snopes.com says this urban legend is false (see here). The Snopes article also discusses several other false legends about snotty atheist professors being bested by humble undergrads.
I love the gospel. But one of my pet peeves is when someone tries to validate it by passing off falsehoods as truth. Not only does this fly in the face of Christ's teachings, but I maintain that the gospel is good enough on its own that it does not need to be 'helped' with faith promoting lies.
I do not put these kinds of urban legends in the same category as the Savior's parables. It was clear that he was telling stories to illustrate principles. These kinds of legends are more in the spirit of Paul Dunn, where facts are stretched or fabricated and offered as truth.
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