Einstein’s ‘God Is Nothing’ Handwritten Letter Goes On Block For $1.5M
Image by getty images
A handwritten letter in which Nobel physicist Albert Einstein took issue with the concept of religion and his own Jewish faith is expected to fetch up to $1.5 million at auction in New York.
Christie’s auctioneers said on Thursday that the so-called God Letter, written by Einstein in 1954, would be placed on public exhibit in San Francisco and New York ahead of the Dec. 4 auction.
The 1-1/2 page letter, written in German to philosopher Eric Gutkind, is regarded as a key manuscript in the debate over science and religion and is Einstein’s clearest statement of his views on the universal search for the meaning life.
The scientist and philosopher wrote the missive a year before his death in 1955 and it is being sold by a private collector.
“The word God is for me nothing but the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change anything about this,” Einstein wrote.
Einstein did not exclude Judaism, saying he admired and loved his people, but that he did not believe they were chosen above others.
“For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition,” he wrote, adding “I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them..”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
