[Slonopotam845]

Spinoza's God was refuted by the Big Bang

First of all, Einstein’s religious beliefs had kept changing over time. From the beginning, Einstein believed in a static universe that operated under deterministic laws of physics; and therefore he rejected the belief in a Creator God. But he was impressed with Spinoza’s concept of God as described in the article, which allowed him to continue his religious beliefs as well as a determinist.

Later, Einstein applied his own field equations of general theory of relativity with the insertion of a cosmological constant to develop a static model of the universe. But Hubble’s observational evidences of redshifts of cosmic structures falsified Einstein’s belief of a static universe and proved that the universe was not static but it was expanding.

Einstein’s own field equations of general theory of relativity were used to develop the Big Bang model of an expanding universe, which remains valid for our universe.

Einstein later realised his mistake and admitted that he committed the biggest blunder of his life by introducing the cosmological constant in his field equations.

Also, the ever-mounting success of quantum theory issued even a bigger and fatal blow to Einstein’s deterministic beliefs.

With all these mounting evidences, Einstein had no choice but to admit to the beginning of the universe, which also refuted his belief in the Spinoza’s God.

Thus, with all these changes and new developments in theoretical and experimental physics, Einstein’s religious beliefs also kept changing over time.

Finally, Einstein settled his religious feelings in Buddhism; and that is how he remained for the rest of his life.

The entire collection of Einstein’s quotes in circulation, clearly shows how his religious beliefs gradually changed and drifted over the time.

There are numerous books and articles that give clear account of how new developments in physical science changed Einstein.

The following two references are just exemplary two references from the set of many, which clearly describes Einstein’s struggle in coming to terms with his beliefs.

• 1. "A Brief History of Time" - By Stephen Hawking
  
  2. "The Universe Unfolding" - Edited by Hermann Bondi and Miranda Weston-Smith