SOURCE: "Einstein on Religion," in The Midwest Quarterly, Vol. XXXV, No. 2, Winter, 1994, pp. 186-97.

Crosby is an American author, educator, and minister specializing in philosophy and religion. In the following essay, he explains Einstein's religious beliefs.

Albert Einstein was a devoutly religious man, although he did not believe in a personal God or align himself with the teachings or practices of any particular religious community. In his lifetime he wrote and lectured on many topics other than mathematical physics, including the topic of religion. In what follows, I first discuss his view of the nature of religion in general and of the proper way of conceiving its relations to science. Then I turn to his personal religious vision, which he sometimes called "cosmic religion." I will make some critical observations as I proceed.

In two lectures delivered in 1939 and 1941, Einstein relegates religion and science to separate spheres, each...