Stephen Hawking was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who studied cosmology, quantum physics, black holes and the nature of spacetime. His intelligence was impressive, scoring an IQ of 160 and belonging to the genius group of people, which makes up 0.003% of the world’s population. He was light years ahead of most of us when it came to physics and mathematical equations, and he was highly regarded in the scientific community.
Hawking had enormous physical limitations to overcome. At the age of 21, he was diagnosed with ALS (a neurodegenerative disease that eventually causes total paralysis), and he was given only two years to live. Yet he lived to be 76 years of age, defying all of the odds. For the second half of his life, he was almost totally paralyzed, so he used a voice synthesizer to speak by using a cheek muscle.
He won many prestigious awards and medals for his work. He also wrote many books, even co-authoring three children’s books with his daughter Lucy. But he was also famous for something else — his statements about God and the origins of the universe!
Let’s look at a few of them and see what God’s Word, the Bible, has to say about them. In A Brief History of Time, he says, “I believe the simplest explanation is, There is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.”
Wisdom
You might wonder how you could look at the “grand design” of the universe and say “there is no God”! Both Templeton and Hawking’s unbelief was not because of their intelligence! They both had a moral issue: their stubborn, rebellious and willful hearts! It was a matter of pride and a determination to trust in their human reasoning, even if it didn’t satisfy or make sense! Don’t ever think that if there’s a God, He’s given you a bum deal because you would believe if you could, but you just can’t, because there are things that you don’t understand! This is a lie of the devil. If you are an honest inquirer, ask God to show you the truth and He will! “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:1313And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)).
God sums it up this way: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:18-21).
God is the One who is all-wise and all-knowing; He doesn’t want or need our intelligence or our philosophical arguments. We can be mighty thankful that He doesn’t! Imagine if you had to be a genius to understand the gospel! Then only 0.003% of the world’s population would have a chance of salvation. But God has made salvation available to all, intelligent or not, rich or poor, powerful or lowly. “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:1111For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (Titus 2:11)). When we open our hearts to God in faith, He reveals Himself to us. “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Bold Ignorance
In 2008, in an interview with Charlie Rose, Hawking said, “I regard the afterlife to be a fairy story for people that are afraid of the dark.” Jesus Himself spoke of heaven and hell more than any other person in the Bible. Luke 16 tells of the story of a rich man who died and was buried, “and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments ... for I am tormented in this flame” (verses 22,24). When Jesus was dying on the cross for our sins, one of the thieves that was crucified with Him repented of his sins, putting his faith in Jesus. Jesus said to him, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:4343And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)). God is faithful to warn all men: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). This is one of the most sobering verses in all of Scripture! God wants us to consider our eternal destiny because there is the reality of a heaven and a hell.
In another interview, Hawking also commented, “There is nothing bigger or older than the universe.” How can anyone be certain of that? None of us were there to witness the creation of the universe! But in Genesis 1 we are told how God created the universe and the world in which we live. Psalm 90:22Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm 90:2) states it in these majestic words: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Sinking further into unbelief and atheism, Hawking made more bold statements: “One can’t prove that God doesn’t exist, but science makes God unnecessary” (in an interview with Nick Watt on September 7, 2010). Finally, one last quote from a brilliant mind, but a lost soul: “God is the name people give to the reason we are here. But I think that reason is the laws of physics rather than someone with whom one can have a personal relationship. An impersonal God” (Time Magazine, November 14, 2010). Man has two witnesses within him that instinctively cry against these statements. They are creation and conscience. The problem is that man does everything he can to stifle and silence these two witnesses because he does not want to answer to a just and holy God.
The Personal God
Every one of us has the outward witness of creation and the inward witness of conscience. As to creation, God says, “The invisible things of Him [God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:2020For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)). The laws of physics can never create; they just describe what is! Mathematics does not create; it just describes what is! Science is just the study of things that are made which show forth God’s eternal power. No, the eternal God who made it all and continues to maintain the laws of physics has given all of us a daily witness so that we are without excuse. As to the inward witness of God, we are told, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Proverbs 20:2727The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. (Proverbs 20:27)).
God is not impersonal! He is intensely interested in each one of us as individuals — so much so that He says, “God commendeth [shows forth] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). The gospel is all-inclusive; “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). God paid a great price for our souls by giving His only begotten Son to die on the cross to pay our sin-debt. The problem is not our intelligence; it’s our stubborn unbelief. God wants us to trust Him and to live by faith in Him. “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:3838Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (Hebrews 10:38)). Templeton and Hawking drew back from not two but three witnesses: the Word of God, creation and their conscience. On the day of judgment, all those whom the Lord has no pleasure in will hear Him say, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:2323And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)). Far better to repent of your sins, putting your trust in the finished work that Jesus did on the cross, and to trust Him for your soul’s salvation. Those that do will one day hear Him say, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:2121His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25:21)).