Socratic Dialogue
Socrates is walking, sees a man sitting alone and approaches him. Socrates notices the conflict in
the man’s face, sits next to him.
Socrates: I can see something bothers you.
Einstein: There is something I have been questioning a lot lately.
Socrates: What is it that has been going through your mind?
Einstein: I have been having questions about God. It simply does not seem logical. People keep
talking about God and how great and amazing he is, but something I haven’t been able to
understand is how people believe in a being that is not even there? Someone that they have
never seen or heard?
Socrates: That is because of faith.
Einstein: Faith. They always talk about faith. What does having faith even mean? Is it to believe?
How can you believe what you do not know?
Socrates: Faith is not only believing, but it is trusting that something or someone is there even
when you are not able to see it or hear it. Even when it is not physically present.
Einstein: There is no such thing as true faith. It is simply not possible to trust that there is someone
or something there that you can’t see, that you don’t even know whether it is small, big, or
its color, its shape… Anything?
Socrates: Yes. It is possible.
Einstein: How.
Socrates: Can you see the wind?
Einstein: No.
Socrates: Do you know its shape, color, or size?
Einstein: No
Socrates: Do you believe wind is real?
Einstein: Of course.
Socrates: That is exactly what faith is. You are not able to see the wind, but you have faith and
trust that it is there.
Einstein: Yes, but that is not the same thing.
Socrates: How so?
Einstein: Maybe we are not able to physically see the wind, but we can feel it, as well as see proof
of it.
Socrates: What kind of proof?
Einstein: Well, things like the waving of a flag, the leaves of the trees flying away, or even
hurricanes. You can see the effects of the wind.
Socrates: And you don’t think the same can be applied to God?
Einstein pauses to think.
Einstein: I guess. But how can God relate to the wind?
Socrates: Just like the wind, we can feel him, and observe his work in the physical world, even
though we cannot see him. Just like the wind, we see the influence of God.
Einstein: If that is the case, then what would be proof of God?
Socrates: Jesus. He is the ultimate proof that God exists. God becoming human, his miracles, his
disciples, his death and resurrection. God sent physical proof.
Einstein: Okay, but that was decades ago. You say that God is like the wind that leaves signs of its
presence. What are some signs of God today?
Socrates: One of the most noticeable signs is how he changes people.
Einstein: In what way?
Socrates: On their personalities, the way they act. Some people have troubled lives in which they
may not make the best choices, or the way they act towards other people may not be
positive. But as soon as God comes into their lives, they drastically change almost
immediately, becoming a new person. Whatever it is that they use to do, or the way they
use to act, stops completely and they do the opposite of whatever they used to.
Einstein: But how do we know it’s God that influences these people as opposed to their own faith?
Socrates: It is indistinguishable, but that is the nature of faith, is it not.
Einstein: Then yet again, it is not logical to think that God is the one influencing people.
Socrates: Have you ever observed what the difference between those who are Christian and those
who are not is?
Einstein: Christians tend to be kind and loving and giving, while non-Christians tend to be people
that are more centered on themselves.
Socrates: And why would that be?
Einstein: Their values and their purpose in life are different.
Socrates: Exactly. Christians live their lives under God’s commandments. Their purpose is to serve
and glorify God. They do not live for them, but they live for God. Unlike them, nonChristians live for themselves. Their priorities are set around them and only them. Their
purpose is to glorify themselves and to fulfill the desires of their hearts.
Einstein: Why is it then that some decide to have faith in God and others don’t.
Socrates: Some people only believe that God is real, yet they do not have faith that he is capable
of doing great things in their lives or that he is capable of guiding them.
Einstein: You keep referring to faith as if it is different from believing.
Socrates: Well, yes. Believing and having faith are two things that often are used in the same
context. Yet they are not quite the same thing.
Einstein: How do they differ from one another?
Socrates: Belief is having a strong opinion about an idea. It is formed by things that you hear,
see, or even read. But because of its basis, over time, it is most likely to change due
to the fact the we grow and gain new knowledge. On the other hand, faith is something that
you start with and keep building from it. True faith can take on doubts and questions, but
remains intact. Even when we grow and gain knowledge, the foundation of faith is always
the same. Faith can only be given by God; it can only be received. It is his gift to us.
Einstein: So then, what you are saying is that faith has a bigger purpose to life?
Socrates: That is correct. Are you able to tell why “just believing” is not as powerful as having
faith?
Einstein: Well, if believing is based on our knowledge and it is susceptible to change, then beliefs
can lose their power and meaning. The fact that they are created based on our own learning
makes them human. On the other hand, faith is given. It is not ours. That makes it stronger,
more meaningful and more powerful. If it comes from a much bigger and more powerful
being, then it must also have a much bigger and more powerful purpose.
Socrates: Indeed.
Einstein: But how then, is faith used in people’s lives beside just giving them the ability to trust in
something they cannot see?
Socrates: Faith gives piece. Even when we have no reason to believe that things will get better, it
is through faith that we are able to cope and keep going and hope that things will get better.
Faith also, is a pathway to finding solutions to circumstance in life. No matter how bad a
situation gets, your faith will get you through it. It is the core of persistence in life and it
will push you to keep searching for answers and solutions for whatever you are going
through in life. It allows us to overcome obstacles. Also, for Christians it is knowing that
God is the one in control, and that everything that happens is because he wants it to and
that he has a plan for it.
Einstein: Would it be possible to have enough faith to overcome even the most difficult and painful
situations in life?
Socrates: What do you think would be one of the hardest situations of life?
Einstein: Having somebody you love die. Loosing a parent or a brother. Loosing your health and
not be able to do what you love again. Maybe even loosing it all.
Socrates: Have you ever heard of someone that lost everything and did not lose faith?
Einstein: I have heard of someone losing everything, but not being able to keep going. They lost
all hope.
Socrates: Have you ever read or the story about Job?
Einstein: The story in the bible?
Socrates: Yes. Have you read it? Or heard about it?
Einstein: Yes. I think I have.
Socrates: Do you remember what it is about?
Einstein: A man that even after going through a tough time did not lose faith in God.
Socrates: But do you remember specifically what is it that he goes through? What is it that made
all this time hard for him? And how is it that he did not lose faith?
Einstein: No. I do not.
Socrates: Job had great faith in God. He was blessed with so much in his life. He had what we all
look for in life: a family, money, land and respect. One day the devil told God that the only
reason why Job was so faithful to God was because of all of these blessings, and proposed
for God to take some of these things away to prove that he wasn’t as faithful as God held
him up to be. So God starts to take things away to the point where Job looses basically
everything. He loses his livestock, his money, his kids, his friends, and even his health.
After all of this, even his wife told him he should curse God, but he didn’t. He remained
faithful in God, and that God was in control of everything that he was going through. Do
you know how staying faithful benefited him?
Einstein: God restored everything that he took away.
Socrates: Exactly. But God did not only just restore everything, but also multiplied what Job once
had many times over. Without faith, this would have destroyed Job. He managed to not
lose faith because, as we stated before, faith is not ours, it is given to us by God as a gift
and it can only get stronger.
Einstein: Then, God gave us faith with the purpose of helping us. Through faith he is giving us the
chance to live and to overcome the difficult times in life.
Socrates: That is right. Do you know what the word for faith is in Hebrew?
Einstein: I do not.
Socrates: Is “Emunah”. It means support.
Einstein: So, faith is God’s support to us.
Socrates: Yes. There are many times where we have to see by faith and not our own eyes, because
by seeing through our own eyes, we would not be able to see through all the obstacles
ahead. And God gives us the support that we need to know that we are capable of
overcoming them.
Einstein: And why would God give us such a gift?
Socrates: What do you mean?
Einstein: Does humanity even deserve it?
Socrates: Faith?
Einstein: Yes
Socrates: Why wouldn’t humanity deserve faith?
Einstein: Because of how evil we are. Mankind is evil and undeserving. We do not deserve faith
nor any sort of support from God.
Socrates: No, we don’t deserve it. Yet that is the purpose of God sending Jesus to this world. To
die and pay for our sins so that we can be forgiven and so that we can have a relationship
with God. By doing this, he gave us faith. Faith to be able to trust that there is a God, that
he is the one in control of our lives, and that he has a greater plan for every person that
chooses to not only believe in him, but to have faith in him. He gave us the ability to know
that he is there even when we are not able to see him.
Einstein: I understand now. Faith is powerful and it is the reason why we are able to continue
through our lives. Without it we would not be able to see the bigger purpose for us and we
would not have the courage to keep moving. Thank you.