n******r
发帖数: 58 | 1 贵了点
“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,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned
on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for
me) change this.”
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/einstein-letter-set-fo
Einstein letter, set for auction, shows scientist challenging idea of God,
being 'chosen'
By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
Decades before atheist scientist and author Richard Dawkins called God a "
delusion," one world-renowned physicist - Albert Einstein - was weighing in
on faith matters with his own strong words.
“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,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned
on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for
me) change this.”
Dubbed Einstein’s “God Letter” by the Los Angeles-based auction agency
that's posting it online, the original document will be up for grabs
starting Monday. The opening bid: $3 million.
The letter provides a window into the famed genius's religious beliefs.
Einstein wrote it to Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind, one year before
Einstein died, in reaction to Gutkind’s book, “Choose Life: The Biblical
Call to Revolt.”
“I’ve been managing high profile auctions since 2005, and this is the most
historically significant item to come up ... since I’ve been doing
auctions,” said Eric Gazin, president of Auction Cause, the group that's
organizing the eBay auction.
Einstein was “one of the most brilliant minds to ever live, but so much of
what we know is scientific. … As related to God and Judaism, this is so
significant. It really lends itself to further study,” Gazin told CNN. “No
one even knew this letter existed till recently.”
But Diana Kormos Buchwald, a history professor at the California Institute
of Technology and the director of the Einstein Papers Project, says that's
not true.
She said copies of this letter, not to mention numerous additional writings
reflecting similar sentiments, have been known to researchers and available
for decades, both in the Pasadena-based Einstein Papers Project and The
Albert Einstein Archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The Einstein Papers Project recently published its 13th volume of Einstein’
s collected papers.
Einstein, who was raised a secular Jew, was open about his religious views
starting in the 1920s, when he became a public figure after winning the 1921
Nobel Prize in Physics, Buchwald said. And biographers, including Walter
Isaacson, have documented Einstein’s faith journey.
“There are no revelations here,” Buchwald said of the so-called God letter
. “But it is frank in the sense that there are other writings where he says
he understands a need for religion and is not derogatory. … Here he makes
his own position very clear.”
In the letter about to be offered on eBay, Einstein drove home his strong
opposition to the idea that Jews, or any people, may be “chosen.”
Here’s part of what he wrote, according to the Auction Cause translation:
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 … I cannot see anything ‘chosen’
about them.
Buchwald, who has dedicated her life to making Einstein’s works available,
believes any discussion of historic documents has value, but she is critical
of how this letter is being presented.
There are word choices in the translation that she, as a German speaker,
would tweak. She also doesn’t get why it’s said to be written on Princeton
University letterhead, when a blown-up image shows it wasn't. Einstein wasn
’t even employed there, she pointed out; he was with the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton, not at Princeton.
Though she views such incongruities as "a bit muddy," she said she wishes
the auction agency and seller luck. "It's just hype. ... I don't have a
horse in this race."
The letter first became fodder for public discussion and mass fascination
when the original sold at a London auction in May 2008 and “poured gasoline
on the culture wars between science and religion,” The New York Times
reported. Back then, it fetched a mere $404,000. Among the bidders who
reportedly lost out that time around: big-name atheist and author Richard
Dawkins.
Gazin of Auction Cause, which pairs marketing with charities, said the 2008
anonymous buyer sought his group out for the Einstein letter's sale after
noting the agency's other successes. Topping the list: the $2.1 million
raked in for an October 2007 letter from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
and signed by 41 other Democrat leaders, demanding an apology from Rush
Limbaugh.
"More than a few” potential buyers have gotten prequalified to enter this
upcoming Einstein letter bidding war, Gazin said. He described those
expressing interest so far as people in the technology and atheist
communities, as well as university and public museums.
At the current owner’s request, Gazin said, an unspecified portion of the
letter's proceeds will go to cancer research.
For those not interested in such heady materials, Auction Cause is offering
some less profound items on eBay this month: the dress Maria Menounos wore
to the Emmys; shoes from Kourtney Kardashian's closet and time with Howard
Stern in the shock-jock's studio. | E*****m
发帖数: 25615 | | C*****e
发帖数: 367 | 3 恢复了，呵呵
【在 E*****m 的大作中提到】
: 標題黨啊
| k*********l
发帖数: 194 | 4 说什么也没用，爱因斯坦揍是基督徒
孙中山也是，温家宝也是，不服啊？再不服毛泽东也是！
auctioned
【在 n******r 的大作中提到】
: 贵了点
: “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,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned
: on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for
: me) change this.”
: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/einstein-letter-set-fo
: Einstein letter, set for auction, shows scientist challenging idea of God,
: being 'chosen'
: By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
| l**********t
发帖数: 5754 | 5 interesting article. thanks for sharing.
pledge your faith to God, not some celebrity.
auctioned
【在 n******r 的大作中提到】
: 贵了点
: “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,” Einstein wrote in German in a 1954 letter that will be auctioned
: on eBay later this month. "No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for
: me) change this.”
: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/einstein-letter-set-fo
: Einstein letter, set for auction, shows scientist challenging idea of God,
: being 'chosen'
: By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
| E*****m
发帖数: 25615 | 6
"Agleed", Christian should stop lying
【在 l**********t 的大作中提到】
: interesting article. thanks for sharing.
: pledge your faith to God, not some celebrity.
:
: auctioned
| l**********t
发帖数: 5754 | 7
everyone, including you and me, shalln't lie.
【在 E*****m 的大作中提到】
:
: "Agleed", Christian should stop lying
| E*****m
发帖数: 25615 | 8
Only Christians lie about Einstein's belief.
【在 l**********t 的大作中提到】
:
: everyone, including you and me, shalln't lie.
| l*****a
发帖数: 38403 | 9 为什么基督徒总要在名人信仰问题上传播大片谎言呢？
【在 l**********t 的大作中提到】
:
: everyone, including you and me, shalln't lie.
|
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