[Slyfox]

Hawking says in his book "The Grand Design" that, given the existence of gravity, "the universe can and will create itself from nothing,"

Who created that gravity and established the Laws of Physics?

[DuncanWaring]

Where did the gravity come from?

That's easy - gravity comes from matter.

You didn't ask where matter comes from.

[RFEngineer]

“Is Intelligence By Association Possible?”

If you believe this, you are hanging around the wrong crowd.

[calex59]

Here is my take on the big bang theory. Ok, so the Universe started from a big explosion, but what exploded? There was matter before the explosion and it had to be equal to the matter after the explosion, no matter how condensed the matter was before it went up, it had to be equal to what scattered out after the big bang.

So the question is, where did all that matter come from? Who, or what, brought it into existence? That question is never addressed, and the existence of the matter is simply glossed over.

[November 2010]

Hawking is probably too old now to push physics forward. It’s usually men in their prime that do, like mental athletes. Can’t imagine he’s doing anything real now. Which makes me think he’s just expressing his opinions.

[skr]

Spontaneous creation, huh? When was the last time we saw a physical law spontaneously show up (or disappear, for that matter)? Mr. Hawkings speaks in conflictese. The universe can pop into being, but there can’t be a God to create it? How does this make sense?

[Keith in Iowa]

So we can boil the theory of evolution down to: Sh|t Happens ??

[Arthur McGowan]

There are loads of people who have fantastic intelligence in some areas and are complete idiots about other matters.

Ever read any of Einstein’s musings about God? He writes like a second-grader.

Hawking simply has no clue when it comes to metaphysical thinking. Considering that he’s English, this is no surprise at all. The English have traditionally dismissed metaphysics as something for fanatical Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Irishmen.

[SunkenCiv]

in the year 2525 duplicates are still gonna ba alive. Additional:

• Stephen Hawking's latest book fails to disprove God
• The Grand Design:
  Hawking on Gravity and Creation, and William Lane Craig on More.
• Stephen Hawking vs. God
• Stephen Hawking Picks Physics Over God for Big Bang
• Stephen Hawking just doesn't get it
  (asserting the superiority of science over religion)

some totally irrelevant sidebars:

• Stephen Hawking: How to build a time machine
• Hawking Wrong Again, Researcher Tells Mars Conference (re: wormhole time machine model.