Stephen Hawking: God was not needed to create the Universe

Daily Telegraph ^ | 02 Sep 2010 | Laura Roberts

[tlb]

The Big Bang was the result of the inevitable laws of physics and did not need God to spark the creation of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has concluded.

In his latest book, The Grand Design, an extract of which is published in Eureka magazine in The Times, Hawking said: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.”

“It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going.”

In June this year Prof Hawking told a Channel 4 series that he didn't believe that a "personal" God existed. He told Genius of Britain: "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. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions."

[The Comedian]

I understand exactly what he's saying.

The problem is, as always with secularists, he is missing the ability to abstract to a logical conclusion.

Very sad. Especially coming from the best popular human argument against euthanasia and abortion currently alive.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[SunkenCiv]

additional:

• Stephen Hawking Takes on Isaac Newton; Christians Respond
• Stephen Hawking's latest book fails to disprove God
• The Grand Design:
  Hawking on Gravity and Creation, and William Lane Craig on More.
• Is Intelligence By Association Possible?
• Stephen Hawking vs. God
• Professor Stephen Hawking says no God created Universe
• God did not create the universe, says Hawking
• Stephen Hawking Picks Physics Over God for Big Bang

archival:

• Stephen Hawking just doesn't get it
  (asserting the superiority of science over religion)
• Famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says
  Pope told him not to study beginning of universe
• The Big Bang and the Big Question: A Universe without God?
• Hawking: God may play dice after all

[antiRepublicrat]

But thus far you have demonstrated that you are not interested in discussing whether or science can illuminate the issue of whether or not the universe had a beginning, and if so whether or not the beginning was caused.

Science is always a work in progress and doesn't claim to have the ultimate answers. You do claim to have the ultimate answer to these scientific questions, based on a book written by people who thought the Earth is flat.

[tpanther]

Yup...to be so smart, he lacks common sense.

It’s like sayig “we really don’t need to pay so much attention, or ANY attention actually to oxygen” when discussing gas exchange or perfusion.