Posted on 04/19/2013 6:47:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
PASADENA, Calif. — Our universe didn't need any divine help to burst into being, famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking told a packed house here at the California Institute of Technology Tuesday night.
Many people had begun queuing up for free tickets to Hawking's 8:00 p.m lecture, titled "The Origin of the Universe," 12 hours earlier. By 6:00 p.m. local time, the line was about a quarter-mile long.
A second auditorium and a Jumbotron-equipped lawn, which itself was jammed with an estimated 1,000 viewers, were needed to handle the crowd. At least one person was observed offering $1,000 for a ticket, with no success.
Stephen Hawking began the event by reciting an African creation myth, and rapidly moved on to big questions such as, Why are we here?
He noted that many people still seek a divine solution to counter the theories of curious physicists, and at one point, he quipped, “What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?”
After outlining the historical theological debate about how the universe was created, Hawking gave a quick review of more scientific cosmological explanations, including Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold’s steady-state theory. This idea hypothesizes that there is no beginning and no end and that galaxies continue to form from spontaneously created matter.
Hawking said this theory and several other ideas don't hold up, citing recent observations by space telescopes and other instruments.
After giving a brief historical background on relativistic physics and cosmology, Hawking discussed the idea of a repeating Big Bang. He noted that in the 1980s, he and physicist Roger Penrose proved the universe could not “bounce” when it contracted, as had been theorized.
(Excerpt) Read more at science.nbcnews.com ...
But when I look at Earth and the universe as they are today, they seem to me to be indistinguishable from the construct of a deist's impersonal God.
And the difference between a disinterested deist creator, and no creator at all, is not material to me.
I can't entirely rule out the possibility that there is a God who loves some of us, yet is indifferent to others.
It's certainly a hypothesis that fits the observations made over my six decades of life.
That's not very uhhh . . . scientific.
Yet they go on touching the hot plate.
Go figure.
Why do you assume that (at least) the Judeo-Christian God is indifferent to anyone?
Where we disagree is about prayer. I grew up learning prayer was about asking god for certain things. Forgiveness, divine intervention for good crops, prosperity, good tidings for family, peace, et al. Prayers make many feel good, but they are to no avail.
I was later told that prayer is just about communicating with an all-loving god and making personal contact. I ask again, what is the point? The entity behind ALL this seemingly just doesn't care about our little blue rock. It has no concern whether we live or die or are tortured or torn limb from limb. I'm a Veteran (not combat), but have witnessed too many atrocities committed on our children, not to mention the fact of innocents dying around the world every day.
The thing that has always befuddled me is, that if good guys go to Heaven, then why should we weep at their funerals? Shouldn't we be joyous that they went to Heaven? It's all BS and has caused and will continue to cause much misery. FYI, I am deist. I believe there is something behind the universe. Unlike Hawking, I don't believe it just appeared in a poof.
“I agree that the idea of the universe arising out of pure chance is difficult to defend, and I don’t pretend to “know” that it began in that way.”
Exactly. Neither do I. Neither does anyone else. It is why many feel humbled by such a question and attribute the amazing universe and life itself as something that must have been made by a god. I am completely OK with that as I also know those with faith are also some of the best scientists I have ever met. I am one of those. I don’t pretend to know how this all came about or even pretend to know what it is. I know I am thankful for it, and I will continue to seek out its origins and explanation. I know in my life all knowledge will not happen but I can contribute to the body of knowledge for future generations to contemplate.
I'd think it would make more sense to say that there's a God who loves some and doesn't love others.
Yet they go on touching the hot plate.
Spirited: Yes, and taking all whose minds have been captured by their vain babbling with them....into the void.
Indeed, some of the lost describe themselves as biological machines. How utterly tragic!
Until some extra-diminsional beings visits us, I don't think we will ever know what caused the Universe. I don't think our brain pans will evolve enough to sort it all out. And if we did, then what? Do we touch the face of the creator? Or do we find that it all just happened by accident? Sad day for billions. Mass suicide. Me, I'll still treat people with compassion, empathy, and respect for being what we are...the best thing on this rock, shortcomings and all.
I don't think God is indifferent to anyone. The Bible says that God doesn't want anyone to perish.
If you're trying to figure out who God is, based on your observations, you should acknowledge to yourself that your base of observation is limited in time and space. Men have come up with all sorts of explanations about who God is and how He acts, and even whether He exists at all.
It is better to know Him than to try with our limited abilities to define Him. He has reached out to us in His word. If you haven't already done this, ask God to reveal Himself to you, and then read the Bible.
Okay, a judgmental god. Got it. He created this unfathomable universe and sits on his throne while planet earth cools and forms life and then becomes judge and jury? Really? He/It is that petty? Love some of his creation but not others? Again, my problem with religion - too small of thinking. But then C.S. Lewis said similar. A mortal man who like the writers and prophets of old has NO clue what's behind all this.
“In YOUR opinion, eh? Well the FACT is that he’s not”
The FACT is he’s not what? A fraud or dead?
Get lost troll!!
With all due respect, and I mean that because I love the idea of Christianity, but how can you shut off your intellect regarding a bunch of writings by men who didn't even know what a cloud is? They thought the world was flat; they thought the Sun revolved around the Earth; they had no clue as to why seasons came and went.
They were no more informed than the Druids who built Stonehenge (supposedly). And there is the New Testament with some old guy in cave writing about the end of the world (Revelations). In between there are some facts about an exceptional man - Jesus Christ. But son of the god of the Universe?
Sheesh, the Old Testament is even worse with its fairy tales. Really? A snake with Adam and Eve? How do you do that? How do you buy such fables? Don't answer - I know, faith.
Also, why would god not want anyone to perish? Thought he loved all souls and wanted them to be with him in Heaven?
Maybe I missed something. What empirical testing supports Dr. Hawking’s case?
Yes, my belief is that there is a God. And I believe you may be on the wrong site.
IBTZ
Two weeks and you are out of here.
Bub bye..
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