How do you distinguish between the belief in God and the occult?

Quote from bigarrow:

Are you positive he believed in god?
More...

"God does not play dice with the universe." (His take on quantum mechanics).

"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."

"I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being. "
 
Quote from Brass:

Not exactly. He was a pantheist:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pantheist?s=t

And, yes, he was smarter than all of us here. Of course, Trader666, jem and a number of others here would disagree...
More...

One of those definitions is:

any religious belief or philosophical doctrine that identifies God with the universe.

So the universe = God to him. So God exists to him.

I don't think it would be too far of a stretch to say that the greatest mystery of all to him was the universe, making the greatest mystery of all to him to be...God.
 
Quote from Brass:

Yes, but that's more of a poetic reference than a literal one:

http://www.pantheism.net/paul/einstein.htm

I think we're on the same page.
More...

However, I would add this:

On a strictly personal note, I think Einstein might have been mistaken, in that there is a chance that some degree of "personal" exists, though maybe not in the Woody Allen sense:

"If only God would show me a sign - like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank account."

And maybe not for the reasons that are often parroted in religions.

After all, Einstein did dismiss the ideas in quantum mechanics, so even he wasn't perfect..... :D
 
Quote from Brass:

Yes, but that's more of a poetic reference than a literal one:
More...

I'm not an Albert Einstein historian, but from what I've read that is the same impression I have of his thoughts on god.
 
Not only did Einstein believe in God, he would anthropomorphise him:

"God does not play dice with the universe."

"I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."

"God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."

And on religion

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

Though religion really doesn't have much if anything to do with God, imo.... :D
 
Quote from Epic:

I think that the tough thing for atheists to express is the difference between belief in religion and belief in God.
More...

Hit's the nail on the head. Most atheists are so totally anti-religion they are completely unable to distinguish between the two, and that science has become their religion and anyone with a PHD is their own deity. Anyone who agrees with them of course. Point out someone in the field of science that is a believer in a Creator...well of course, they are horribly misguided.
Bottom line is the atheists here are as thick headed as are the true believer christian fundamentalists who believe the world is only 6000 years old. Pointing that out makes them angry. The whole pot and kettle thing, don't ya' know. My opinion, they deserve each other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top