更正:
爱因斯坦的确不仅从未信过基督,而且还多次严厉批判一神论的基督教。但必须实事求是说爱因斯坦晚年的反思对宗教总体社会价值评价还是很高的。
爱因斯坦不信神,这是历史学研究者得出的结论,有如下证据:
1)爱因斯坦自传文字:
“If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him? ”
- Albert Einstein, Out Of My Later Years
翻译:如果这个存在是无所不能的,那么每一个事件,每一个人类行为、人类思想、人类感知和灵感都是他的作为。那么当我们想到要让人在这样一个全能的存在面前为自己的言行负责,这怎么可能呢?在惩罚和奖赏的同时,他(上帝)将在一定程度上也要对自己作出评断。这怎么可能和神性、正义一起归诸于他呢?—— 阿尔伯特-爱因斯坦,《我的晚年》
2)主编William Miller于1955年5月2日(爱因斯坦已去世)在纪念爱因斯坦生平的文章《Life》中引用爱因斯坦的话:
“I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil.”
- Albert Einstein, quoted by editor William Miller in Life, May 2, 1955
翻译:我不相信神学里那个惩恶扬善的上帝。
----爱因斯坦,主编William Miller于1955年5月2日在《Life》中引用。
3)1955年4月18日爱因斯坦去世,第二天《纽约时报》发表的讣告里引用爱因斯坦的话:
“I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.
- Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955“
翻译:我无法想像一神奖赏或者惩罚他的创造物的神,其观念按我们自己的样子来塑造——简言之,一个不过是人类脆弱性的反映的神。我也不能相信个体会在肉体死亡后继续生存,虽然虚弱的灵魂曾经带着恐惧和可笑的自我主义停泊于这个想法中。
4)针对基督徒们制造和散布的谣言,爱因斯坦1945年7月2日写给Guy H. Raner Jr,的信件里辟谣说:
“I received your letter of June 10th. I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Guy H. Raner Jr, July 2, 1945, responding to a rumor that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to convert from atheism; quoted by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic, Vol.5, No.2. ”
翻译:“我在6月10日收到了您的信。我从来没有和一位耶稣会会士交谈过,而且我对如此厚颜无耻的捏造关于我的谎言感到震惊。从一个耶稣会会士的观点来看,我当然而且一直是一个无神论者。
----爱因斯坦,1945年7月2日致Guy H. Raner Jr的信,以回应一个流言,说一个耶稣会会士使爱因斯坦从无神论者转为信神。Michael R. Gilmore在《Skeptic》卷五二章中引用。”
5)爱因斯坦在《自传笔记》里写道:
“Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression.
- Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp"
翻译:在流行科学书藉的阅读中我很快达成这样的观念,即圣经中的许多故事不可能是真的。其结果是对自由思想的狂热推崇,伴随着年轻人被国家以谎言故意欺骗的感受,这是让人无法忍受的感受。
----爱因斯坦,《自传笔记》,Paul Arthur Schilpp编辑。
6)爱因斯坦1949年9月28日在写给Guy H. Raner Jr.的信中说:
“I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, 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.
- Albert Einstein, letter to Guy H. Raner Jr., Sept. 28, 1949, quoted by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic, Vol. 5, No. 2
翻译:我反复说过,在我的观念里一个人格化的神是孩子气的玩意。你也许会说我是个不可知论者,但是我并不具有专业无神论者的圣战精神,其热情来自于想要从幼时的宗教灌输的桎梏中痛苦的挣扎出来。我更倾向于一种谦逊的态度,它与我们在智力上理解自然和自身所表现出的弱点相联系。
——爱因斯坦,给Guy H. Raner Jr.的信,1949年9月28日。Michael R. Gilmore在《怀疑主义》第五卷第二章中引用。
很显然,爱因斯坦是无神论者,但是,除非实在必要,他并不愿意强调自己的无神论信仰,更不愿意陷入与有神论者的争论中去。
毕竟,他是被希特勒迫害而不得不移居美国的,在美国这样一个有着浓厚基督教氛围的国家生活,过多强调无神论信仰是会给自己带来麻烦的。
再来看居里夫人。
所谓“居里夫人信基督”的说法则来自基督徒们传播的一段谣言,其内容如下:
“居里夫人(法国籍波兰人物理学家、化学家、理学博士、教授、诺贝尔物理学奖和化学奖获得者)
居里夫人的父母都信耶稣,母亲尤为虔诚,她也从小信耶稣。
她的实验室培养了一批优秀的法国和外国的科学家,其中也有中国科学家。
有些人认为她全力以赴搞科学,信仰不虔诚,实际她一生信神。
她和丈夫决定把他们的研究成果,包括制镭方法在内,不申请专利,而是无偿地奉献给全世界人民,这正表明她发扬基督的爱的精神。”
“她也从小信耶稣”和“她一生信神”是彻头彻尾的胡说八道。
居里夫人在《居里夫人自传》“成为居里夫人”这一节里明明白白地写道:“我们决定采取最简单的结婚仪式,即不采取有宗教信仰的仪式,因为皮埃尔不信仰任何宗教,我也没有学习过或信仰过宗教。”!
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