Einstein and God's Calling

Few days ago, I was reading a new biography of Albert Einstein by Walter Isaacson. Of course, we know him as a rocket scientist who invented all sorts of things that we modern people take for granted in our daily lives. But, it was very interesting to me as I read about his childhood background, his personal life, and especially his spiritual contemplations. And, how all of this, in my mind, speaks to our common desire to understand God's calling in our lives and to follow it as best as we can.

First, his childhood begins by being born into a Jewish family living in Germany. Of course, this was before the two World Wars, but what a predicament one finds himself in by being born in such a complex world. Later in his life, Einstein states that he is both Jew and German. More importantly, he asserts to everyone that he is a human being before anything else. In writing a speech to deliver at a gathering to celebrate Israel's independence day, Einstein begins by saying, "I'm here before you not as a Jew, or German, but as a human being..." To me Einstein knew who he was culturally, what his place was in history, but also who he was a creation of God.

One might think that because Einstein was such a devoted scientist he couldn't have been any religious. However, when people would ask him whether he was religious, his answer automatically wouldn't be a simple "no". Like any deep thinker would say, he would ask back "it depends on what you mean by 'religious'". Einstein was a scientist in a period when science and religion existed far apart from each other on any spectrum of civilization that you could think of. The more scientist you were, the less religious you would have to be - or at least most people believed so. But, for Einstein, he thought for himself. And, he believed, on one hand, yes, there are a lot of religious beliefs and expressions that go against the day's scientific knowledge, but on the other hand, he also firmly believed that there are many things in life that science alone simply cannot account for. In other word, Einstein would declare there MUST be a power or agent behind how the world operates but that power or agent is not a personal being that interferes with human lives. In short, Einstein was a firm believer of transcendent God (i.e. God the creator) but wasn't able to accept or believe in God of imminence (i.e. God the Lord or our lives).

This leads to another interesting dichotomy that Einstein believed - that is his pursuit of human creativity yet his belief on determinism. As a scientist and inventor, he always preached on the value of human creativity. Einstein, ever since he was young, defied normality and refused to conform to what was expected. He fought against any and all authoritarian forces and we can see how this was the energy behind his creative and unorthodox science that led to many of his accomplishments. However, he was very strong on determinism. He would say he is not inventing anything. That science is not a trait of invention. But, he would say, science is simply an effort to understand what is already there. He believed in natural laws and science to explain those laws as best as human language can. You see, Einstein believed in God the creator. God who created this world with perfect natural laws of cause and effects. And, no creativity of humans could alter that. But, you would need all your creativity to understand it. Wow, what a profound, seemingly contradictory yet so amazingly true statement he is making! You see, Einstein knew God and the proper place of human before God.

There were so many other interesting things about Einstein's life. How one thing he was bad at was language and couldn't learn how to speak until after 2 years of age... his relationships with women including two marriages... how he worked on his equations even on the day of his death... But, the most interesting observation I could make of his life is that the man knew God and knew himself. He defied authority not because of rebellious spirit but because he had deep convictions - convictions of who God was and who he was as his creation. It's hard to know whether he had a personal relationship with the creator God. But, in his own profound ways, he knew God more than many people ever would. Or at least he lived according to his view of God more convincingly than many would. And, to me, this is what it means to understand and follow God's call in our lives. To know God best as we can and to live this life according to that knowledge. Thanks, Einstein, for being a hero of faith!