The Bible Code (and Einstein, too)

Rick Shumaker rshumake@idt.net
Thu, 2 Oct 1997 11:04:06 -0700 (00875837046, 01bccf5d$936c7cc0$4e9793cd@rick)



>I thought the issue of this silly book had been settled, but Pat
>Robertson was pushing it on the 700 Club today. Here is a post I sent to
>the Apology list.
>Helen Willis
The new issue of "Skeptic" magazine (v 5, n 2) also debunks _The Bible Code_. It's worth a look. It also has a special section on "The God Question." Another article of interest, especially to those of us tired of hearing theists quoting Einstein's ambiguous references to God as if he was one of them, is the article "Einstein's God." It presents "here for the first time" the complete texts of two personal correspondences with someone inquiring about his religious views. In the first he says "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist." Four years later the correspondent asks for clarification. After authorizing him to use those earlier remarks "any way you see fit," Einstein concludes with: "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being." My copy of "Skeptic" arrived in the mail yesterday, so it's already on the newsstands or will be soon. Rick