"A God who did not abolish suffering - worse, a God who abolished sin precisely by suffering - is a scandal to the modern mind. " Peter Kreeft.
C. Colson and N. Pearcey p.203
The year was 1942, and the scene was the crowded front parlour of Albert Einstein's home, where the famous physicist had arranged a tea party for three clergymen: a young orthodox rabbi named Dov Hertzen, a middle-aged Catholic Priest named Brian McNaughton and a liberal Protestant Theologian named Mark Hartman. Albert Einstein's Out of my Latter years and The World as I see it.
"Rabbi Hertzen here 'provoked' this little party," Einstein began, as soon as the men had sampled the tea and cookies. " He congratulated me on my open-mindedness when I dropped my belief in a static Universe. Not long ago, I observed Hubble's red-shifts for myself at Cal Tech."
Einstein leaned back in his chair and lifted his chin. "Of course, I have known for a long time that one of the implications of general relativity is that the Universe is expanding. And if it is expanding, then clearly in the past it was once smaller. Extrapolate backwards in time, and you end up with a universe that began at some finite time in the past as a superdense ball."
" And so," Einstein concluded, folding his hands, "I have come to accept the Universe had a real beginning in time. But what are the consequences of this discovery? Does it have any metaphysical or even religious, implications? This is what rabbi Hertzen asked me, and I thought perhaps we could discuss it together."
He smiled briefly. With his tousled hair and bushy moustache, his old sweater and slacks. Einstein was a master at creating the stereotype of the gentle absentminded professor. But he used his famous image ruthlessly, disarming people, then wielding simple logic to cut them to pieces.
Rabbi Hertzen fell for the ruse immediately. Perched on the edge of His Chair, he plunged in eagerly, "Don't you think, if the Universe itself had a beginning, there must be a cause to it? A capital C Cause.?"
"And why is this conclusion necessary?" Einstein gave the Rabbi a sharp look over his teacup....
'I know something of Science, but when we begin to speak of a Capital C, we have passed beyond the bounds of Science.'
Father MacNaugton broke in, 'If the Universe had a Beginning in time, that event must have a cause - a cause outside the Universe.'
'Bravo,' Einstein added archly, 'You have just reduced the question to a simple syllogism.'
'Somtimes the truth is simple,' Mac Nauhton added with a smile.
Rabbi Hertzen resumed his argument.....'The findings of astronomers are ivin scientific confirmation that there must be an Almighty Being...... Dr Einstein,, don't you have reason to find our whether or not this Bein is the One who gave the Torah to Moses? The almighty One, blessed be He, of the Jewish People. Your own people,' he finished triumphantly.
'How could any almighty being not be the God of the jewish people?' Einstein asked dryly.
C. Colson and N. Pearcey p.203
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"Rabbi Hertzen here 'provoked' this little party," Einstein began, as soon as the men had sampled the tea and cookies. " He congratulated me on my open-mindedness when I dropped my belief in a static Universe. Not long ago, I observed Hubble's red-shifts for myself at Cal Tech."
Einstein leaned back in his chair and lifted his chin. "Of course, I have known for a long time that one of the implications of general relativity is that the Universe is expanding. And if it is expanding, then clearly in the past it was once smaller. Extrapolate backwards in time, and you end up with a universe that began at some finite time in the past as a superdense ball."
" And so," Einstein concluded, folding his hands, "I have come to accept the Universe had a real beginning in time. But what are the consequences of this discovery? Does it have any metaphysical or even religious, implications? This is what rabbi Hertzen asked me, and I thought perhaps we could discuss it together."
He smiled briefly. With his tousled hair and bushy moustache, his old sweater and slacks. Einstein was a master at creating the stereotype of the gentle absentminded professor. But he used his famous image ruthlessly, disarming people, then wielding simple logic to cut them to pieces.
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"And why is this conclusion necessary?" Einstein gave the Rabbi a sharp look over his teacup....
'I know something of Science, but when we begin to speak of a Capital C, we have passed beyond the bounds of Science.'
Father MacNaugton broke in, 'If the Universe had a Beginning in time, that event must have a cause - a cause outside the Universe.'
'Bravo,' Einstein added archly, 'You have just reduced the question to a simple syllogism.'
'Somtimes the truth is simple,' Mac Nauhton added with a smile.
Rabbi Hertzen resumed his argument.....'The findings of astronomers are ivin scientific confirmation that there must be an Almighty Being...... Dr Einstein,, don't you have reason to find our whether or not this Bein is the One who gave the Torah to Moses? The almighty One, blessed be He, of the Jewish People. Your own people,' he finished triumphantly.
'How could any almighty being not be the God of the jewish people?' Einstein asked dryly.
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