14 DAY TRIAL // Albert Einstein's letter to God was written in German, one year before his death, on January 3, 1954. It embodies the expression of the scientist's views on god and religion.
The handwritten letter will be auctioned off on e-Bay by Los Angeles-based agency Auction Cause. The item is set to include the original envelope it was sent in, stamped and postmarked. The letter was written on Princeton University letterhead, the Inquisitr reports.
The opening bid is $3 million or £1.9m, which auction organizers believe is a fair price for a piece that reveals Einstein's personal beliefs and view of the world.
Auction reps have chosen eBay as a setting for this transaction in order for it to be accessible to interested buyers from anywhere in the world.
“eBay has the widest possible audience and it is so global and so accessible … We feel this is a reasonable starting price given the historic importance and the interest in Einstein,” Eric Gazin, the president of Auction Cause, said.
Einstein's letter was addressed to Erik Gutkind, author of Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. The scientist had reportedly read Gutkind's book before writing the letter.
He viewed the concept of god as an expression of human weakness, that made modern men similar in thinking to tribal inhabitants.
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”
For Einstein, religion was a result of superstition and a few men's thirst for power.
“For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them,” he had said.