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Throughout the course of his life, physicist Albert Einstein, the publisher of the theory of relativity, affirmed his belief in pantheism, a theological doctrine based on the work of 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. When asked by the prominent American Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein if Einstein believed in God in a telegram dated April 25, 1929, he responded that he followed a different doctrine. I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind, Einstein replied. Generally speaking, pantheism identifies God with the universe or regards the universe as a manifestation of God. The worship is founded on the belief that everything is one and, in essence, admits and tolerates all gods. Just like the cells in our bodies, working together as a whole, everything is part of one infinite being. This eternal, single existence is The Living Universe, states the Living Universe Church, which abides by the doctrine of pantheism, on its official website. Einstein’s association with Spinoza and the pantheism went viral in December 2018 when the famed auction house Christie’s listed The God Letter as open for bidding on Dec. 4 and subsequently sold it for nearly $2.9 million. The celebrated letter was addressed to German Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind in response to his third book, Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt, which is described by the auction house as having presented the Bible as a call to arms and argued that Judaism and Israel as incorruptible. In the letter, written in 1954 shortly before Einstein's death the following year, the physicist outlined his thoughts on religion, his Jewish identity, and his own search for meaning in life, according to the auction page. In an abridged version of the letter, Einstein referenced Spinoza but did not refer to pantheism by name. He wrote: Einstein was known to contemplate the many facets of religion and the concept of God, sometimes as critically as he did science. In a commentary published on Nov. 9, 1940, in the journal Nature aptly titled Science and Religion, the man of Jewish descent posited that he could not easily define the concept of religion, but noted fundamental similarities and differences between it and science. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions, then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary, he wrote. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action; it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts.
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