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Religion/spirituality

What a Brain!

(32 Posts)
speck123 Fri 14-Jun-13 19:02:40

Einstein! A Bible is about to be auctioned in Madison Avenue Salerooms USA that Einstein and his wife presented to a friend in the 1930s.
Einstein wrote in German in the flyleaf, "The Bible is a source of inexhaustible wisdom and consolation that should be read often".

j08 Fri 14-Jun-13 19:25:01

Wow! That is so good! smile

soop Sat 15-Jun-13 11:36:57

Glad that you're happy, jings...I've been reading the wise words of the Dalai Lama, and they make me equally happy. Enjoy your day. smile

feetlebaum Sat 15-Jun-13 16:35:20

Strange... "The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this." (Albert Einstein letter to Eric Gutkind,3/1/1954)

Greatnan Sat 15-Jun-13 17:03:42

I know which version of his thinking I believe!

petallus Sat 15-Jun-13 17:28:53

He does say 'honourable' though and it is the childishness ( or innocence) of the psalms which makes them so attractive to so many people, including atheists.

annodomini Sat 15-Jun-13 17:38:25

An expression of admiration for the Bible is not tantamount to a profession of Christian or, for that matter Jewish, faith.

j08 Sat 15-Jun-13 18:32:55

I think my "Wow" was more an appreciation of the thought of a bible with Einstein's written message to his friend in the front of it. I found it a bit awe inspiring. Perhaps hmm but still.

Greatnan Sun 16-Jun-13 06:03:57

I have enjoyed reading many parts of the bible, mainly for the beauty of the prose, which might be a tribute to the translator. I am glad I had to study it at school, as so many of our well-used phrases are derived from it.

feetlebaum Sun 16-Jun-13 14:04:09

Petallus - Yes there's that psalm about sitting down by the waters of Babylon, that ends up with the enjoyment of smashing babies against walls...

The 1611 "King James" bible was extraordinary in that it was the work of a committee, and yet has some passages of real literary worth. It was not actually a new translation as was claimed - more of an editing job, and a poor one at that. (One chapter appears twice - in two separate books!)
The Gospels in particular are a mess of hearsay and plain fiction, and some of the more popular bits didn't appear in the manuscripts until the 5th and 6th Centuries.

petallus Sun 16-Jun-13 14:11:24

Oh I know feetlebaum. Some of the things those early Jews asked their God to do with their enemies were blood-thirsty, to say the least.

Such were the times I suppose.

petallus Sun 16-Jun-13 14:12:27

These days we can kill our enemies' babies by the thousand without any help from God!

speck123 Mon 17-Jun-13 10:24:09

Well now, it is good to get all that bile out of the system rather than keep it locked in!

Greatnan Tue 18-Jun-13 11:47:03

Who has demonstrated any bile?

JessM Tue 18-Jun-13 12:29:08

Sounds like Einstein's thinking may have changed between 1930 and 1954.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 13:54:02

Those days too, petallus. They only brought god into it to make themselves feel self-righteous.

Lilygran Tue 18-Jun-13 14:14:15

Give it a rest, Bags. I won't say 'for Heaven's sake' for obvious reasons.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 16:32:15

No.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 16:34:14

Are you always that bossy?

I'm afraid you'll have to put up with my making whatever comments I wish, lily, so long as I don't attack people in a personal way.

Lilygran Tue 18-Jun-13 17:10:08

I'm afraid you're absolutely right, Bags. I can't stop you (or anyone else) from seizing every opportunity to make a negative comment about God, whether relevant or not. Good thing he loves you anyway.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 17:12:37

It was relevant.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 17:13:57

BTW, if I siezed every opportunity, there'd be a lot more. Gransnet is my atheism outlet. Tough luck mate.

j08 Tue 18-Jun-13 17:28:19

"Tough luck mate"?! That is pathetic!

Sounds like some yobby man talking. hmm

Do you drive a white van Bags?

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 18:01:35

Racing green, actually.

Bags Tue 18-Jun-13 18:02:15

PS sense of humour needing rebooted, perhaps, jings?