Hawking knows, and you now, that given some force stuff happens ~ even matter pops into existence and gets ordered about hither and yon.
Hawking's current problem is that he's in the final stages of having a deadly, debilitating, crippling neurological disorder ~ other people of less capability are writing his books and putting words in his mouth.
Or, is he just pi$$ed off at God?
Wouldn't this refute that?
Hawking, however, says “the universe can and will create itself from nothing” because there is a law such as gravity.
He's not indicating that God will create something from nothing, only the universe.