We all know that Albert Einstein was a genius. His theories of relativity blew us away (if any of us could understand them!). He worked on a "unified field theory" (which would tie together all the forces of nature) right up to the moment of death. Scientists are still working on it ("string theory")

His personal letter to President Franklin Roosevelt led to the Manhattan Project which led to the development of the first atomic bomb (for good or evil--you decide). Einstein was named Time's "Person of the 20th Century". (Think about that!)

For those reasons, and more, the world was curious about Einstein's religious views, particularly if he believed in God. I know I wanted to know. Surely the smartest man in the world had an insight on "the mind of God". If he hadn't figured it out, who could?

It turns out that all sides--believers, agnostics, and atheists--claimed him as one of their own. Why?

For many years, Einstein was rather guarded in expressing his beliefs. He was a Jew (although his parents were non-practicing), but educated Catholic (!). I don't think he even knew what he believed (or not) in. He often made statements that could be construed in different ways, like "God does not play dice with the universe".

In interviews, and especially his 1930 "What I Believe" credo, Einstein spelled out his beliefs. He DID believe in God. His God was a god of universal laws and direction. He was a "determinist": everything is predetermined (by God). And while God didn't directly act on humans, their behavior, thinking, feeling, and actions were not free, but causally bound. In other words, "I do not at all believe in free will". Humans are not free agents. "Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star." Wow! Einstein said and believed in this (and much more)!

Einstein's deist belief (like Ben Franklin, Tom Jefferson, and many other early founders) was not "Christian" (no Son-of-God Jesus), but he definitely had opinions about his God.
And who could dispute the greatest thinker of our time?

As I was wrassling with my beliefs in my teen years, I looked to Sir Albert for guidance. After all, I was a budding scientist (or so I thought--and I did become a science major and teacher), just like Einstein. However, I have never accepted his view of God and His universe. Einstein's universe, okay, but it's not God's. For this humble cogitater, there is no God, period-- no "master of the universe", let alone a personal god that directs each of our lives.

Einstein's religious views be damned.