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Letter from Albert Einstein in which the great physicist said that God could not have created the universe and that science ‘replaces and replaces religion’ goes on sale for £100,000
- A letter has been sent to a religious studies teacher in Brooklyn, New York
- She had asked him if it was possible for a scientist to reconcile science and faith
He famously described religion as “childish superstitions” born of “human frailty.”
But four years before his 1954 “God letter,” legendary physicist Albert Einstein told a group of students in separate correspondence that science “replaces and replaces” religion.
In the letter, written in German to religious studies teacher Ms. Munk, the father of modern physics also effectively disproved the biblical creation story and suggested that God could not have created the universe.
After consulting her students, Mrs. Martha Munk had asked him if he thought it was possible “for a modern scientist to reconcile the idea of the creation of the world by God, a higher power, with his scientific knowledge.”
The letter, written from Brooklyn, New York, has been listed for sale at US autograph dealer The Raab Collection for £97,000 ($125,000).
A letter in which Albert Einstein says science ‘replaces and replaces religion’ has gone on sale for £97,000 ($125,000)
It was acquired from descendants of Mrs. Munk and has never been publicly sold.
In response to her question, Einstein told Mrs. Munk in the letter dated April 11, 1950: “As long as the stories in the Bible were taken literally, it was clear what kind of faith was expected of the readers.
‘However, if you have to interpret the Bible symbolically (metaphorically), it is no longer clear whether God should be seen as a person. [and therefore not a monotheistic deity]which is somehow analogous to humans.
‘Then it is difficult to judge what remains of faith in its original sense.
‘I think, however, that the more or less skilled in scientific thinking is alien to the religious creation (in the original sense) of the cosmos, because he applies the standard of causal conditionality to everything.
At the time of writing, Einstein, who was Jewish, had been a US citizen for ten years, having fled Germany shortly after Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party came to power in 1933.
“This does not refute the religious attitude, but in a sense supersedes and replaces it.
Nathan Rab, director of The Raab Collection and author of The Hunt for History, said: ‘This is a powerful demonstration of a great debate raging today, expressed by a man who illustrated that debate, and one of the great figures and scientists of all time.
“It’s an exciting find and a truly historic letter from Albert Einstein.”
At the time of writing, Einstein, who was Jewish, had been a US citizen for ten years, having fled Germany shortly after Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party came to power in 1933.
The scientist initially lived in Belgium and then spent six weeks in Britain before moving to the US.