Posted on 05/16/2011 12:41:52 PM PDT by Former Fetus
British scientist Stephen Hawking has branded heaven a "fairy story" for people afraid of the dark, in his latest dismissal of the concepts underpinning the world's religions.
The author of 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" said in an interview with The Guardian published on Monday that his views were partly influenced by his battle with motor neurone disease.
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the newspaper.
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Ya know, I can respect the intellectual honesty and integrity of an agnostic. BUT, seems to me that someone who states that a question that can not be either proven or disproven by human means (the existence of God), does have a definitive answer, is either very foolish, or simply intellectually dishonest. Mr Hawking has made his decision on the basis of his emotion, not fact, which he should recognize as a false conclusion. If he had said “I simply choose not believe in Heaven or an afterlife”, then his statement would have been valid. BIG difference, and he knows it.
Since C.S. Lewis was a very articulate man with well structured thought processes and a keen mind focused on logic who went from being an atheist to a Christian believer, I believed his thoughts on this issue might be of interest to you.
Since he passed away in 1963, you will not be able to ask him his thoughts on how belief comes to someone with no belief. But he did write down his answers to that question.
I think of it more as faith like a child, faith being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. You are correct about his inability to even entertain that there is a God, because he would have to surrender his will and this is a very difficult thing.
And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind
ROMANS 1:28
When you think that you know more than God, you are a puppet of Satan.
Thanks, but I prefer just asking regular folk. That way I can hopefully get answers that are perhaps more candid and diverse.
My point I was trying to make (poorly) was that perception of the proof distorts the result.
Some people believe they need a burning bush before they believe God is speaking to them.
Some hear and see God every day.
But I can assure you, it is very tough to hear God while you hold your fingers in your ears and shouting “not listening, not listening...”
Most people first have to be willing to seek God before they find Him.
So are you interested in an answer, or are you just interested in opinions?
“... has discovered many new and extremely interesting truths ...”
from what I understand, hawking has done nothing but rehash old theories.. No real breakthroughs or anything.
That is so sad that he views the human brain as merely a computer... he thinks we are all no better than a desk or lap top? He has been deceived.
Very sad.
No, this is the problem. You think because I believe(and not just me but, all Christians) I’m either stupid, uniformed, unread, unthinking. It’s so much more than that. But, if Christians are right, you have everything to lose. And if your right, we’ve lost nothing.
chris- I am so sorry that you were treated in this manner when you were younger....people have done so much bad in the name of faith/Christianity. It sounds like you now know that God loves you and your illness not being cured had nothing to do with that. I hope that SH comes to that realization someday.
>>>>I completely agree!!! And Amen!!! Truly sad, I have a couple of friends that are atheists. They spend and inordinate amount of time, trying to debunk God, the bible, heaven, ect. If there is no God, and they truly believe that. Why do they spend so much time devoted to trying to debunk it all?<<<
I agree. I believe that deep down most hardcore atheists (the type who feel the need to “prove” that God does not exist) do know that there is a God, but are too proud or scared of the knowledge of their own condemnation to humble themelves to acknowledge the obvious fact that God exists.
I think agnostics and nominal “christians” or nominal adherents to other faiths that are the real “atheists”. If someone goes to church now and then (or even every week) but doesn’t really believe, and doesn’t really care, he is much closer to a true “atheist”.
If one spends any significant amount of time thinking about God (even if only to “debunk” Him) that person must have some sort of belief in God. Does Hawking feel the need to debunk Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?
Real “atheists” don’t think about God much at all, and live their lives without regard to His existence.
I pray that God will open Hawking’s eyes and draw him to repentence, before it is too late, and use him to further demonstrate His great Mercy and Glory.
My friend told me about that book... gave me goose bumps! :)
The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”
Werner Heisenberg
Personally, I'm looking forward to being debugged, defragged, and reinstalled on upgraded hardware at some point in the future.
Or to quote CS Lewis: "You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
Exactly. Tell me what Life is, Hawking. Show me how to create it, and, well we know all too well how to destroy it. Life truly is the essence - I think it's what the sages mean when they say the Kingdom of Heaven is within you -- you're ALIVE!
Given Hawking’s lost bet with Kip Thorne on the Black Hole Information Paradox, I would submit the stakes of losing THIS bet would be somewhat more...Crippling.
(I know, I know, I’m going to Hell for that one...)
“People are frightened by what they don’t understand.”
John Merrick
So how can anyone expect someone that doesn’t believe, to ever believe? Ans: God draws them to Himself.
Can people just decide to believe, or does it come from God? Ans: It all comes from God, even when it appears to be entirely one’s own decision.
If it comes from God, why doesn’t everyone believe the same? Ans: In a word, because of Sin. God’s will for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, but this does not happen instantaneously. Conversion is a decision followed by a process. Think of your life as a bucket of dirty water: if you continuously add clear ice to it, the dirt will be diluted more and more, unless you put more dirt in. Eventually what you will have is pure water.
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