Einstein Quote

[Anonymous]

Post split and moved here by Jac3510

"science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" could you please help me to understand this? do you agree? [/quote]

[Anonymous]

"science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" could you please help me to understand this? do you agree?

Hi Naomi,

I am no expert in these things, but I have an appreciation for understanding bible verses, sort of along the lines of "a text without a context is a pretext." So you look for the context of the saying, like who, what, where and why, etc.

So now you analyze the saying at the surface level...who said it, what does it mean at first sight, what is your first impression? Then proceed to analyze it further...what is the context, and why did he/she say it? After answering all these questions, i.e., looking at all the angles and possibilities, then you can piece together all your findings and draw a conclusion.

This saying sounds like it could be profound, and in fact I learned that it was A.E. himself who said it. One thing I know about Albert is that everyone knows he did something profound in his theory of relativity but few, very few, know precisely what it was he did. He was asked what implications his scientific discoveries had for religion, and he emphatically declared that relativity has nothing whatever to do with religion.

So my first finding is that the theory of relativity and religion are separate fields of study. Yet the saying itself seems to imply a connectivity. Do I agree with it? Well, without going any further, and knowing how smart Albert was, I would be cautious about disputing it. Yet Albert was not an expert in religious doctrines, so are we to believe his conclusion on faith? Probably not.

I believe he was trying to discourage the wild speculations that the secular humanists were making about his theory as it relates to the existence of God. His relativity findings had nothing to do with moral values. It was a popular folk lore, immediately following his announcement of the theory, that he proved that everything is relative. You hear that said today. People apply it to moral values and use it like an eleventh commandment that there are no absolutes. Albert said it was nonsense to use his theory like that, so I think it's highly probable that the saying does not mean that.

He was constantly asked about the relationship of science to religion and moral truths. So my guess would be, not having researched it specifically, that this was the motivation (the why) for this saying. So that's about as far as I can go and I hope this helps.

StanMan

I found this web site which may also help.
http://www.healpastlives.com/pastlf/quote/qurelsci.htm

[1over137]

"This is what Albert Einstein wrote in his letter to philosopher Eric Gutkind, in response to his receiving the book "Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt". The letter was written on January 3, 1954."¹

... "science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. "²

sources: on demand

P.S.: As far as I know, Einstein was a pantheist.