An eBay auction for an original letter
handwritten by Albert
Einstein in which he expresses his views on the existence of God was
opened Oct. 8, and in about 10 minutes from the time an anonymous bidder named
o***h had placed the first offer at the opening price of $3 million.
In the
letter, Einstein
calls belief in religion and God "pretty childish" and ridicules the
idea that the Jews are a chosen people.
Eric Gazin, president of Auction Cause, the
agency managing the sale, has said "This is the most historic and
significant piece we have listed on eBay in an email. "We are excited to
offer a person or organization an opportunity to own perhaps one of the most
intriguing 20th-century documents in existence. This personal letter from
Einstein represents the nexus of science, theology, reason and culture."
Einstein
handwrote the letter in German to Jewish philosopher Eric B. Gutkind on Jan. 3, 1954, a year
before Einstein's death. The letter was a response to Gutkind's book "Choose Life: The
Biblical Call to Revolt" (1952, H. Schuman; 1st edition).
In part of
his letter, Einstein writes, "For me the Jewish religion like all other
religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish
people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity
have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience
goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are
protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see
anything 'chosen' about them," as translated from German by Joan
Stambaugh. [Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of
Jesus]
In his book,
Gutkind suggested that unlike the mass hypnosis spoiling mankind at the time,
"The soul of the Jewish people was never a mass-soul. Israel Israel
And as for whether Einstein believed in God? Yes
and no, it seems.
In a March
24, 1954 letter, he is quoted as writing, "It was, of course, a lie what
you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically
repeated. 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."
However, in
the letter to Gutkind, Einstein wrote the word God was "nothing more than
the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of
honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty
childish."
This isn't
the first time this "God" letter has been up for auction: In 2008, an
unidentified buyer who had "a passion for theoretical physics" bought
the letter at a Bloomsbury Auctions sale in London
The letter to
Gutkind has been stored in a temperature-, humidity- and light-controlled
environment at an academic institution specializing in the care of cultural
heritage collections, according to an eBay description. Since the letter has
been known among scientists for more than 50 years, the description reads, its
authenticity has never been questioned. The letter is in its original envelope,
holding a stamp and postmark from Princeton ,
N.J, where Einstein lived toward the end of his life.
The last few
years have seen an outpouring of projects that bring the famous genius down to
earth: For instance, in March, a large collection of Einstein's documents —
everything from personal letters to scientific manuscripts — went online as
part of an endeavor by the Albert Einstein Archives at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Einstein Papers Project at the
California Institute of Technology. The archive reveals both the academic side
of Einstein — with one of only three existing manuscripts containing the famous
E=mc^2 equation written in Einstein's handwriting — and his personal life — with
a postcard to his mother Pauline.
In addition,
in 2011 pieces of his brain went on display for the first time at Philadelphia 's Mütter
Museum
The
"God" letter will be up for auction for 10days on E-bay.
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