Albert Einstein did not believe in a personal God.
But he left behind a legacy of writings on the bonds between science and religion and on his own profound reverence for the “order deeply hidden behind everything.”
Krista Tippett is the host of On Being with Krista Tippett, the Peabody Award-winning public radio show on which she explores “the most essential questions” of life and faith. She uses Einstein’s science as a starting point for exploring his perspective on ethics, eternity and mystery.
Tippett will present Einstein’s God on Thursday, February 27, at Elmhurst College, as part of the Rudolf G. Schade lecture series. This event is sponsored in part by BMO Harris Bank.
Tippett’s talk draws from her second book, Einstein’s God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit (2010), which argues that science and religion, far from being mutually exclusive, are complementary realms of inquiry. The book features profound and often moving conversations with experts in a variety of disciplines: well-known physicists, a Darwinian scholar, respected surgeons, a widely recognized psychologist. Tippett’s goal is to understand how religious revelations, diverse spiritual practices, and cutting-edge advances in science and medicine can inspire and improve the way we live our lives.
Her weekly national radio program, On Being with Krista Tippett, is about drawing out compelling and challenging voices of wisdom on the most important subjects of 21st-century life. Topics range from “Einstein and the Mind of God” to “The Spirituality of Parenting” to “Diplomacy and Religion in the 21st Century.”
“We aspire to create hours of radio that are beautiful, intelligent, nourishing, edifying, trustworthy, quiet, and hospitable,” Tippett says. “They are also challenging, but not in a way that puts people on the defensive or invites posturing. We invite listeners—and give them tools—to open their minds, to see differently, and to start new conversations within themselves.”
Her latest initiative, the Civil Conversations Project, is a series of radio shows and online tools “for healing our fractured civic spaces.” In conversation with Tippett, guests like Terry Tempest Williams and Vincent Harding ask how we can bridge the gulfs between us caused by disagreements around politics and morality.
Tippett’s talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 27 in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center. A book signing will follow the lecture. Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Tickets are available online. For more information, call (630) 617-3390.