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In 2008, a letter written by Albert Einstein sold at auction in London for $404,000.   The handwritten letter, dated January 1954, was addressed to philosopher Eric Gutkind. The auction house verified the letter’s authenticity.

Einstein, the famous physicist known for developing the theory of relativity, shared his thoughts about God and the Bible in this personal letter. Though biographers describe him as devout when he was a young child, Albert Einstein later became an agnostic – a person who believes nothing is known or can be known about the existence of God.

In the letter, written one year before he died, Einstein said, “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.”

Reading about the words of one of the brightest minds of the 20th century, I wondered what other scientists and historical figures might have to say on the subject, especially the Bible. Sir William Herschel, who made numerous discoveries about the laws of the heavens, believed, “All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confining more and more the Truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures.”

Sir Isaac Newton, an English physicist, was born more than a century before Einstein.

Newton stated, “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.  I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.”

Inventor and agricultural researcher George Washington Carver once said, “The secret of my success? It is simple.It is found in the Bible.” Robert A. Millikan, Nobel Prize-winning American scientist has written, “I consider an intimate knowledge of the Bible an indispensable qualification of a well-educated man. Contact with the finest influences which have ever come into human life can be obtained only in this way.”

“It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people.  The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom,” according to Horace Greeley, founder of the New York Tribune. Abraham Lincoln stated, “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.”

In the words of Napoleon, “The Bible is no mere book, but it’s a living creature with a power that conquers all who oppose it.” Two men important to our country’s independence have commented. George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Patrick Henry claimed, “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

It doesn’t take an Einstein to know the value of the Bible, God’s Holy Word. I can testify to this priceless book’s authenticity, addressed to me. It’s a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. In fact, “heaven and earth will pass away,” but God’s Word, never; because the “word of the Lord endures forever” (Psalm 119:105, Luke 21:33, 1 Peter 1:25).

— Jan White has compiled a collection of her columns in her book, “Everyday Faith for Daily Life.”