The world might have not fully known Albert Einstein yet, as news about the upcoming million-dollar Einstein auction revealed that the scientist was not an atheist and believed in God.
The Washington Times reported over two dozen of personal letters written by Einstein will be auctioned on Thursday for a value of up to $1 million dollars.
Some of these letters to be put up for an Einstein auction by Profiles In History reportedly revealed statements made by the scientist that said he is not an atheist.
"We all know about what he accomplished, how he changed the world with the theory of relativity. But these letters show the other side of the story - how he advised his children, how he believed in God," said Joseph Maddalena, founder of the California-based auction house, in the report.
One of the letters to be put for an Einstein auction reportedly showed one of two conversations he had regarding his religious beliefs, including a statement about not being an atheist.
"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... I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being," Einstein wrote, according to reports.
Another Einstein auction letter also reportedly showed him writing in reply to a history teacher in California who asked if there was truth in the rumor that a Jesuit priest had the scientist converted.
He wrote in reply, "From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist. It is always misleading to use anthropomorphical concepts in dealing with these outside of the human sphere - childish analogies."
Aside from his religious beliefs, The Telegraph also reported that the Einstein auction letters included his stand on subjects such as adultery, the atomic bomb, and how McCarthyism threatened an American version of Hitler.
One letter which Einstein wrote to his children revealed he was targeted by some people because of being a "Jewish Holy Man," the report said.
"I'm sitting here quietly in Holland after I was informed that there are certain people in Germany who are after me as a 'Jewish Holy Man.' In Stuttgart, they even had a billboard where I was ranked first among the richest Jews. Have been thinking about giving up my position in Germany altogether but I am not doing that because it would be morally damaging to the German intellectuals," the scientist wrote.
Reports said the letters are on auction from $5,000 to $40,000 each. Maddalena said the total could reach $500,000 to $1 million.
"These are certainly among the most important things I've ever handled," the auction founder said.
