It seems that Stephen Hawking has decided that God did not create the Universe. More precisely, Stephen is reported as saying that “There is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe”.
Well the latter statement is a matter of opinion and choice. Many scientists who have pondered the origins of the universe and the earth on which we live also choose to start from the same premise as Stephen Hawking, namely that they choose not to consider God as an option when propounding theories of origins.
Of course, if you start from this premise, you have already excluded the possibility of God from your thinking. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that you will end up with theories that don’t require God’s intervention.
Further quotes attributed to Stephen in regard to the origin of the universe include:
- “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.”
Minor theme in the Bible
Interestingly, very little of the bible is devoted to the matter of origins. There are a couple of chapters in the first book of the bible (Genesis) that tell us that God created the heavens and the earth. This record is supported by a few other verses scattered throughout the whole bible. That’s 2 out of 50 chapters in Genesis or 2 out of 1189 chapters in the whole bible. The bible certainly does not major on the theme of ‘Origins’.
The bible tells us that God created everything but it doesn’t bother to try and prove it. Just as Stephen Hawking and others choose to start from the premise that God had nothing to do with creation, the bible starts from the premise that God had everything to do with it.
Remarkably, both start positions can accommodate the same facts that science has discovered. That does not necessarily include the same ‘theories’ since they inevitably reflect their corresponding start points. However, facts that can be demonstrated and proven by repeatable experiments do not depend on any philosophical starting points. They stand independent from theories and philosophies and they fit with the bible’s theory about origins as well if not better than the theories put forward by atheists.
The Real Issue
Having briefly addressed the question of origins, it is worth considering what it is that the rest of the bible concerns itself with. Almost anywhere you look it is far more concerned about the human condition and what to do about it.
This issue is first mentioned in those same two chapters at the beginning of Genesis and it is a theme that is developed all the way through the bible to the very last of the 66 books (Revelation).
Stephen Hawking recognises that there is a problem with human nature. He argues that if we have evolved to be the way we are, then the probability is that any alien life forms would have developed along similar lines and therefore we would be well advised not to advertise our presence to such other life forms.
Stephen recognises that there is a problem with human nature but he doesn’t have any solutions. Apparently he doesn’t think it likely that any alien life forms will have found an answer either, which is why he advises that we avoid any contact with them.
Instead, Stephen and many others who share his philosophy use their undoubted brilliant intellects trying to prove that the universe doesn’t need a designer or creator.
Actually, it is a bit like the passengers on the sinking Titanic arguing and debating about the design and manufacture of the ship rather than helping to launch and hopefully get a place in one of the lifeboats.
Let’s assume for a moment that God does exist (and there is no laboratory test available to prove that He does or doesn’t), then it is reasonable that the bible is right when it says that we must all face judgement before God for the lives we have lived here on earth. In fact, that would seem to be a reasonable argument from the concept of natural justice.
If that assumption is correct, then we are all in serious trouble and none of the clever theories that explain away the need for God in creation can help us one jot.
The only one who can help us is God Himself and that is really what the bible and the Christian faith is all about – What God has done, how He did it and how we can benefit from it. To put it in a quaint old-fashioned way, we are talking about “Salvation from sin“.
