Many people claim (theists most of all) that Albert Einstein was a believer because he used to mention "God" in many of his writings and thoughts. This is not accurate.

Many religious theists cite Einstein as an example of a smart scientist who was also a religious theist like them. This supposedly rebuts the idea that science conflicts with religion or that science is atheistic. However, Albert Einstein consistently and unambiguously denied believing in personal gods who answered prayers or involved themselves in human affairs, exactly the sort of god common to religious theists claiming that Einstein was one of them. From some perspectives his position would be seen as atheism or no different from atheism. He admitted to being a freethinker, which in a German context is much the same as atheism.

He often used the word "god" in some quotes when trying to explain his point of view as a physicist. Like the famous one: "God does not play dice with the universe". He just used the word as a metaphor and simile of another meaning.

He also 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 which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
- "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."
And when asked "Do you believe in God?" he answered: "Has Science found God?"

Albert Einstein didn't merely disbelieve or even deny the existence of the sort of god traditionally asserted in monotheistic religions. Albert Einstein went so far as to deny that such gods could even be moral, if religious claims about them were true. Gods which presume to reward good and punish evil would themselves be immoral - especially if they were omnipotent and thus ultimately responsible for every event. Belief in an afterlife and souls is a fundamental principle not only to most religions, but also most spiritual and paranormal beliefs today. Albert Einstein denied any validity to the belief that we can survive our physical deaths. According to Einstein, there is no punishment for misdeeds or rewards for good behavior in any afterlife. Albert Einstein's denial of the existence of life after death suggests that he didn't believe in any gods and is part of his rejection of traditional religion.