understand them himself. It took three more years after his paper published for his theories to be put to the test. A total eclipse in 1919 tested a key Einstein theory: the gravity can bend light. Though few in the physics community agreed with him, Einstein was not nervous about his work being tested. "If my theory is disproven," he said, in effect, "then I would feel sorry for God. The equations are correct!"
And so they were. The eclipse showed that the sun's gravity can actually bend light, exactly to the degree Einstein had predicted. It was the first of many proofs of general relativity: In the decades since then, relativity has been proven correct past the 12th decimal point, making it the most thoroughly proven theory in the history of science.
As Einstein toiled to develop his theories, his marriage to Mileva Maric was failing. He was notoriously cold and distant to his wife; over the years neglect gave way to open hostility. The couple divorced. Years later, a second marriage for Einstein failed.
How could someone who discovered such deep truths fail so deeply on a fundamental point of life?
A Christian might offer a compelling and conventional response. Einstein's life, the argument goes, is another example -- tragically, there are many -- of a failed philosophy: that greatness negates goodness. If we can just accomplish enough, if we can become important enough, powerful enough, then how we treat others doesn't really matter. But in the end, no one is above morality, no matter how famous or accomplished we become. This Christian argument is simple: No one should ever sacrifice the quality of their home life for the demands of their career.
Every word of this argument is true. It also misses the point, for three reasons.
Sometimes, greatness is good.
Wouldn't it have been better if Einstein had just come home every day from the Swiss patent office and forgotten about that all that physics stuff? After all, no Einstein, no atom bomb, right?
The trouble is that his work was great. Special and General Relativity revolutionized the course and nature of science itself. His theories were stunning: time as a dimension, gravity as curved space, matter and energy bound up together in awesome, unifying force.
Albert Einstein gave new light to Paul's declaration in Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that they are without excuse."
Today, God's power and divine nature can be seen in new and exciting ways. Einstein's equations paved the way for a mathematical picture of creation itself. The decades since Relativity paint a new picture of a universe created out of nothing, just as the Bible declares. In recent years, the number of scientists who believe in an intelligent God who created the universe has risen sharply. The evidence gives them virtually no other choice. To have lost this would have been tragic.
Letting me off the hook
It's always easy to point to someone else - in history or in prominence today or in the cubicle next door - as an example of how not to live. It's funny how we can always point to someone else who fails more than we. Maybe I wouldn't sacrifice my marriage to develop a new physics theory, but am I guilty straining my marriage for far less?
The suburbanization of faith
As our society struggles with values and grasps for old solutions to new problems, we risk getting our wires crossed.
