A "fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

In his early work, Stephen Hawking spoke of "God" in a metaphorical sense, such as in A Brief History of Time: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we should know the mind of God."

In the same book he suggested the existence of God was unnecessary to explain the origin of the universe. His 2010 book The Grand Design and interviews with the Telegraph and the Channel 4 documentary Genius of Britain, clarify that he does "not believe in a personal God". Hawking writes, "The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second." He adds, "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing."

His ex-wife, Jane, said during their divorce proceedings that he was an atheist. Hawking has stated that he is "not religious in the normal sense" and he believes that "the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws." In an interview published in The Guardian newspaper, Hawking regarded the concept of Heaven as a myth, stating that there is "no heaven or afterlife" and that such a notion was a "fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

Hawking contrasted religion and science in 2010, saying: "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

-mmmmm. 😉

Originally posted by mikelom
"the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws."

Of course scientific laws cannot be broken - by definition.
A law, is a rule that is never broken. If what we thought was a law, gets broken, then we were wrong that it was a law.
This is why the whole concept of 'the supernatural' is really just an attempt to defy logic.

Originally posted by mikelom
In his early work, Stephen Hawking spoke of "God" in a metaphorical sense, such as in A Brief History of Time: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we should know the mind of God."

In the same book he suggested the existence of God was unnecessary to explain the origin of the universe. His 2010 book t works."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

-mmmmm. 😉[/b]

And here Dr. Ravi Zacharias and Dr. John Lennox (a scientist) discuss Stephen Hawking's comments.


YouTube

Originally posted by jaywill
And here [b] Dr. Ravi Zacharias and Dr. John Lennox (a scientist) discuss Stephen Hawking's comments.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wMyMmjPgLs [/b]

I think part 2 is even better in explaining Stephen Hawking's crazy thinking.

Originally posted by RJHinds
I think part 2 is even better in explaining Stephen Hawking's crazy thinking.

I found, I think, some overlap or repetition in part 2 with part 1. But agree that the both were effective rebuttals.

Do you think the book publishers just wanted something sensational from Hawking there to successfully sell the book ?

Originally posted by jaywill
I found, I think, some overlap or repetition in part 2 with part 1. But agree that the both were effective rebuttals.

Do you think the book publishers just wanted something sensational from Hawking there to successfully sell the book ?

Perhaps, that is what happened. But since these men believe he has
a brilliant mind, it does seem hard to explain his crazy thinking, unless
it is a result of family problems. Sudden depression can have a very
harmful affect on peoples outlook about life.

P.S. The last part sums it up pretty good, too.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Of course scientific laws cannot be broken - by definition.
A law, is a rule that is never broken. If what we thought was a law, gets broken, then we were wrong that it was a law.
This is why the whole concept of 'the supernatural' is really just an attempt to defy logic.

Why can't scientific laws evolve into something different?

Originally posted by mikelom
In his early work, Stephen Hawking spoke of "God" in a metaphorical sense, such as in A Brief History of Time: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we should know the mind of God."

In the same book he suggested the existence of God was unnecessary to explain the origin of the universe. His 2010 book t works."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

-mmmmm. 😉[/b]

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing."

An objection was that laws explain the behavior of something once it is exists. Laws do not cause something to come into existence from nothing, but they discribe how an existing thing will behave. Hawking wants us to believe the Law of Gravity caused the universe to be created.

Oxford Mathematician Dr. John Lennox is also good in responding to Atheist Richard Dawkins.

"Who Designed the Designer?" Question.

YouTube

Originally posted by jaywill

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing."

An objection was that laws explain the behavior of something once it is exists. Laws do not cause something to come into existence from nothing, but they discribe how an existing thing will behave. Hawking wants us to believe the Law of Gravity caused the universe to be created.

To be fair to him, I think he meant to include all the laws and only pointed
out the law of gravity as an example. But clearly, he needs to rethink
this when he is in a better mood.