Einstein did not believe in a higher being, as he clearly stated:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly." And: "The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive."
What he did do was play around with the word God and used it tongue-in-cheek as a metaphor for the physical laws of the universe. So he would say things like, "God doesn't play dice with the Universe." But that wasn't an expression of personal belief, except to the religious who jump on anything they get that looks favorable to their side.
In two surveys done in 1916 and in 1996, it turns out that for both years about 40% of scientists say they believe in God. That's much lower than the general population, and if they included doctors in those surveys, that would explain the majority of that 40%, since most doctors are unscientifc.
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings."
"In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views."
"I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God."
On whether he considered himself religious: “Yes, you could call it that. Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this foce beyond anything we can comprehend is my religion.”
On whether he accepted the historical existence of Christ: “Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”
On the nature of God: “That deeply emotional conviction of a presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.”
On whether science leads to religion: “Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of nature–a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort.
On how religion motivates scientific inquiry: “The cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.”
On whether science and religion are at odds: “The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”
On how he regards atheists: “The fanatical atheists…are creatures who cannot he[a]r the music of the spheres. I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist. What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos.”
