Nobelists.net has a free e-book called “50 Nobel Laureates and Other Great Scientists Who Believe in God.” Not a very catchy title, but an interesting little 146 page read.
The book is comprised mostly of quotes from scientists, writers and philosophers. The purpose of the book, from the author’s introduction: “I believe that this book will inspire believers, that it will give hope to seekers and that it will challenge those who think that religion and contemporary science are in an insurmountable conflict.”
Here is a sampling of some the more interesting quotes from the e-book:
- “When it comes to the origin of life there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation. There is no third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved one hundred years ago, but that leads us to only one other conclusion, that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds; therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance!”
George Wald- Nobel Laureate in medicine and physiology - To the question, “Many prominent scientists – including Darwin, Einstein, and Planck – have considered the concept of God very seriously. What are your thoughts on the concept of God and on the existence of God?”
Christian Anfinsen replied: “I think only an idiot can be an atheist. We must admit that there exists an incomprehensible power or force with limitless foresight and knowledge that started the whole universe going in the first place.”
Christian Anfinsen- Nobel Laureate in chemistry - To the Lord, whom I worship and thank,
That governs the heavens with His eyelid
To Him I return tired, but full of living.”
Galileo- founder of experimental physics - In the beginning of his Meditations (1641) Descartes wrote:
“I have always been of the opinion that the two questions respecting God and the Soul were the chief of those that ought to be determined by help of Philosophy rather than of
Theology; for although to us, the faithful, it be sufficient to hold as matters of faith, that the human soul does not perish with the body, and that God exists, it yet assuredly seems impossible ever to persuade infidels of the reality of any religion, or almost even any moral virtue, unless, first of all, those two things be proved to them by natural reason. And since in this life there are frequently greater rewards held out to vice than to virtue, few would prefer the right to the useful, if they were restrained neither by the fear of God nor the expectation of another life.”
Rene Descartes- founder of Analytical Geometry and modern philosophy - “The impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for
the existence of God.”
Charles Darwin- founder of the Theory of Evolution - “In good philosophy, the word cause ought to be reserved to the single Divine impulse that has formed the universe.”
Louis Pasteur- founder of microbiology and immunology - “Tonight I was in a meditative mood. I was absorbed in the contemplation of nature; I admired the immensity, the movements, the harmony of those infinite globes.
I admired still more the Intelligence which directs these vast forces. I said to myself: ‘One must be blind not to be dazzled by this spectacle; one must be stupid not to recognize the Author of it; one must be mad not to worship Him’.”
Voltaire- French philosopher one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment - You accept the historical Jesus?
- Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”
Albert Einstein, from an interview with the Saturday Evening Post
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. (Albert Einstein, 1954)
Well, the first quote is based on very poor logic. It is a straw man fallacy mixed with a false dichotomy. The current type of “spontaneous” generation is substantially different than 100 years ago. 100 years ago, it was about fully formed organisms such as maggots or flies. The “spontaneous” generation of today is in no way accurately characterized as “spontaneous.” It is a long long piecemeal process of mechanical building blocks that are not always considered “life” at some points. This life science 101. I thought everyone knew this.
I am suspicious of a page that starts out so poorly.
The basic ideal is the same. Energy cannot be created from nothing. That’s the point genius.
Okay, the 2nd quotation is also bunk.
It implies that Einstein believed in God. He in no way believed in something resembling the common conception of God. In fact, his “god” lacked intelligence and was something more akin to “the laws of the universe”
That’s 2 for 2. I wouldn’t waste my time on that book you recommend.
Joshua buddy,
These quotes weren’t meant for proving points or furthering arguments, they are simply quotes that I found interesting. Arguments about science vs. religion are so tired and boring by now.
I’m writing a book called “50 Architects who Love Fondue and Fondling Children.”
Here’s a couple of poignant snippets:
“What my therapist says is that I am a heterosexual with issues, and I think that’s accurate.”
- Ted Haggard
“Good Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.”
- Jerry Falwell
“We just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.”
- Ann Coulter
“I know one man who was impotent who gave AIDS to his wife and the only thing they did was kiss.”
- Pat Robertson
I understand that you find arguments about science vs religion boring. But the title is “Nobel Laureates and scientists who believe in God”. What do you expect? The book is off the mark if it is quoting Einstein. And anyone with knowledge on some of those other people you quoted would find out, they might have said certain things because it would be socially disastrous not too, maybe even death. “E pur si muove.” Right? Someone should put a list together of Scientist that Don’t believe in God, I think it would be a very interesting book. Might even have something to say.
Good points Todd, thanks. But, a book about scientists who don’t believe in God is a bad idea. I think that would take too many trees.
Then make it an eBook.
In response to G Peters, he made a grave mistake in assuming that this book is claiming that Einstein believed in a personal God. Einstein believed in God, some sort of non-personal God (no way to know). Of course we can discredit him not being a Theists, but what about him being an Atheists or Pantheist?
‘I am not an Atheist, I don’t think I can call myself a Pantheist’
-Albert Einstein
Einstein did believe in God, and said this to the skeptics:
‘In view of such harmony in the Universe there are those who say there is no God, but what angers me the most is that they quote me in support of such views’-Albert Einstein
This quote is directed straight at you Peters, before anyone writes anything down, please use logic, coherency, and non-fallacious comments. Einstein surely believed in a higher being who placed the laws of Physics in their place, he would be a fool if he didn’t.
Its amazing how you guys get so shaky when you find that some of the biggest scientist believed in God, how ironic is that?! I guess I call it common sense. You spend so much time trying to disprove one thing that you miss the obvious evidence.Ciao!
Trust me we don’t miss it, you keep quote mining again and again the few of them. But I think you miss the 20 times more numerous important scientists who don’t believe in God and reject the idea of his existence
Interesting quotes. What’s even more interesting is how quickly some people get defensive about these brilliant scientists believing in God.
I bet they didnt quote Eisntein’s Gutkins letter.
In fact, Einstein tended to be more critical of debunkers, who seemed to lack humility or a sense of awe, than of the faithful. “The fanatical atheists,” he wrote in a letter, “are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle. They are creatures who–in their grudge against traditional religion as the ‘opium of the masses’– cannot hear the music of the spheres.” –TIME MAGAZINE
Einstein DID believe in God. It may not have been a “personal God” but he did believe in God, he said so himself many times. He in fact hated the idea of atheism.
Quote mining, quote mining and more quote mining. Seriously, I hate this intellectual dishonesty so much, I could punch this asshole of an author in the face repeatedly.
Theists claim that there must be an all-knowing omnipotent God (or intelligence) who created the universe because its just too complex to have sprung up over the course of billions of years. OK so then where did this “God” come from? Doesn’t this put us right back where we started from?
Here’s my theory. Keep in mind that I am not a trained scientist or theologian.
Everything in existence is a duality. You can’t have up without down. You can’t have left without right. You can’t have in without out. And you can’t have nothing without something. So how do you get something out of nothing? Let’s do the math.
Zero = one + negative one
For every positive you must have an equal negative because it all has to add up to zero. Now you can have any variation on that such as
Zero = (five plus two) + (negative four plus negative three)
And you can even borrow across time and space like I’ll take four today and give back three next week and one next year. Or I’ll take one from here and put it over there.
The varieties can be endless but in the end it all has to add up to zero.
So that’s my own personal theory on creation. And while it may be totally unqualified since I have only self-trained in science or theology (and limited at that) my theory has something I haven’t heard from any theologian. It makes sense.
As of 2008, 789 individuals and 20 organizations have been awarded a Nobel Prize.
They could only come up with 27 actual Nobel laureates for that list?
And when you read up on some of them… you find some of those ‘believers’ tend to be deistic in their world view. Einstein for sure didn’t believe in an ‘afterlife’.
One might better claim they believe in *A GOD*, because they don’t believe in any aspect of ‘THE GOD’ that most theists are carrying on about.
Only 27 that publicly declared it without being asked too ping. Many more besides.
Whether one believes in God or not, the important thing is that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31). We are all free whether to believe in God or not. But whatever one’s choice will be, he will face that day of judgment. Nothing will be changed.
George
Synopsis of Einstein on religion:
http://mindhacks.org/einstein-and-spirituality-is-attracting-wellbeing-into-your-life-against-religion/179/
THIS MARVELOUS AND COMPLEX UNIVERSE, TO ME, CANNOT BE EXPLAINED BY RANDOM CHANCE OR EVOLUTION.THE CONCEPT OF GOD THE CREATOR I THINK MUST BE SO FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN WE AS HUMANS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE CAN ONLY PEER INTO GOD’S VISION FROM THE CORNERS OF HIS MASTERPIECE, FOR THE ENTIRE SCOPE OF HIS WORK IS BEYOND WHAT A MORTAL MIND COULD BEAR.
Pessoas onestas argumentam onestamente, estão buscando a verdade. Tem alguem aqui que conhece a totalidade da vida? Nem conhece a si mesmo totalmente! E defender opiniões em fundamentos que não alcançam totalmente. Na vida é assim, uma descoberta científica aqui e outra ali. Ora se acontece descobertas científicas… é porque está descobrindo, logo tem muito ainda o que descobrir. Então o cientísta sério não pode argumentar científicamente que Deus não exista. Porque ele não detem todos as descobertas que ainda está por vir… o que temos na verdade, no tempo e no espaço, são pessoas num prossesso de alto-conhecimento e de conhecimento universal. Ninguem pode negar o que está por revelar ainda…
I used to reject the argument from authority, but now I see the error of my ways. What Nobel laureates believe must be true. So I say we put the question of God to a vote of all living Nobel laureate scientists and dispose of the question once and for all.
snark
God, the creator of everything always was and always will be.
All I would wish is that indviduals would look for themselves with an open mind, instead of blindly following others. Firstly, yes I do believe in God. This came about through an experience that can’t be explained any other way, too personal to enter into here. Some people (who do not know the facts) try to say this was not so, and I find this unbelievably arrogant. It is like somebody trying to tell me I have not been to the pub, when I am on my way back from it. Open mindedness is needed, and without that it is hopeless. Open mindedness is something that is almost always lacking, from both sides of the argument ! There is talk of Christians being brain washed, which I find highly amusing. The brainwashing is done by society through the TV, Radio, Newspapers, etc, which are largely atheistic. This is a million times worse than any supposed brainwashing of Christians, but many can’t even see it. Take the theory of evolution which many quote for their reason for disbelief in God, as it is taken for granted by most that you can’t believe in both. CHARLES DARWIN STATED “IT SEEMS TO ME ABSURD TO DOUBT THAT A MAN MAY BE AN ARDENT THEIST & AN EVOLUTIONIST”. ATHEISTS ADOPT A GREAT DEAL OF “NATURAL SELECTION” WHEN PICKING OUT THE FACTS !
You are SO spot on with the “brainwashing” argument, I have wondered that myself. Firstly God may be reached without following any religion, but nobody seems to stress that ever. Part of the problem has to do with personifying Him. The thing is we cannot envision/imagine an 11-dimensional universe but we set out to somehow understand that which may be beyond even the 11-dimensions (that we have so far discovered) as a flat, whimsical figure in a flesh suit, with a white beard and trident? Mind boggling absence of faith in faith! We humans have a body yes but we have a soul too, we struggle to survive but we sacrifice ourselves for the weaker too … there are more things at work here than can be seen through a quantitative analysis.
The arrogance, ignorance and hostility that you fanatical atheists possess is downright astonishing. Do you really believe that you are the most intelligent group of people living at this current time or that have ever lived? Don’t make me laugh! You seemingly have the arrogance that anyone who lived before you, could not possibly have been as educated or as intelligent as yourselves and apparently the vast majority of you seem to believe that those billions of people on this Earth whom choose to believe in a God should in fact be rounded up and put to death for their beliefs. Am I wrong because that is how the majority of you act? Some of you outright say such things. You fanatical atheists need to step back and take a good hard look at yourselves including how you behave and act in public. I think that you would be ashamed. I hate to say this but you atheists act much the same way that the Nazi’s did towards the Jews, or how the KKK did towards people of color, just something that you may like to contemplate upon since you are all so intellectually gifted.
These comments do not come from a fanatical Christian as you suppose. I have not been to church since I was 8 years old. I myself also went through my own phase of atheism during my college years when like yourselves I thought that I knew more than anyone else did but later I realized that I was wrong. One opinion that I had different from you was that I never felt the need nor the desire to attack others simply for not believing in the things that I believed. There is just something that seems very fascist about that behavior. In fact I believe that it is the very definition of fascist behavior.
I believe in God.
GOD created the universe and everything in it and the bible show us how we should all act in his creation
Quote Darwin properly please. The above version cuts off a vital part of the sentence and distorts the intent of the statement: “But I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide. I am aware that if we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came and how it arose.”
{ 1 trackback }