By Rev. David Littlewood.
Stephen Hawkins has been making waves again, claiming (according to the press) that the Big Bang was the result of the inevitable laws of physics; hance God, according to Hawking, was not needed to spark the creation of the universe.
Hawking has claimed that no divine force was needed to explain why the universe was formed. 'Its not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going' the Telegraph quoted him as saying.
'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.' said Hawking in an extract from his latest book. The Grand Design.
The problem is then, just who or what is at the back of these laws? If God is not needed to light the blue touch paper, didn't someone have to put the touch paper there in the first place? To say that the universe can create itself out of nothing is to ignore the fact that there were laws of physics in the first place that preceded the so called Big Bang.
Of course as has been pointed out, Hawking's hypothesis is just that - a hypothesis. It is not established even as a theory, much less a law. Furthermore, the multiverse our (universe being just one of many) hypothesis (in all its theoretical permutations, of which Hawking's is just one) does not prove the none existence of a cosmic prior intelligence. In fact the multiverse hypothesis has three flaws; first it is not falsifiable, second it begs the question; and third it certainly violates Occam's Razor, the principle that 'entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity' (i.e.the simplest explanation is usually the best!)
Of course one of the driving forces behind these hypothesis is the fact that the universe - or what we know of it - is incredibly finely tuned. Adjust any of the constants (like gravity) that make up the laws of physics by even a tiny amount and the whole universe takes on a completely different form, impossible for life as we know it to exist. The incredible fine tunung of the universe begs the question - who or what is behind the fine tuning?
We might be allowed to question whether this latest book of Hawking's is not an incedibly complicated attempt of theoretical physics to avoid certain worrying questions like these. Having rejected the 'God' hypothesis as inconvenient, are we not now trying to set up another which, like God, cannot be proved or disproved by scientific observation.
Hawking is of course a person as well known for his courageous battle against a debilitating disease as he is for his physics. However very few of the admirers of Stephen Hawking the man, will be able to cope with the incredibly complicated mathematics of the multiverse theory he expouses. Many scientists may feel that in his attempts to get to the universal theory of time and space and 'solve' the ultimate question, he has now gone decidedly into the realm of metaphysics.
We must be thankful then, that the God of the bible, though decidedly clever has not chosen to reveal Himself through the mathematical somersaults of Hawking's 'string' theory. He has instead chosen to reveal Himself in a way everyone - educated or illiterate - can underatand. That is through the person of Jesus Christ. You don'y need a computer and a huge set of brains to discover this God - He is there, sustaining the universe, yet revealing Himself to anyone who will humble himself and call on His Name.
Stephen Hawkins has been making waves again, claiming (according to the press) that the Big Bang was the result of the inevitable laws of physics; hance God, according to Hawking, was not needed to spark the creation of the universe.
Hawking has claimed that no divine force was needed to explain why the universe was formed. 'Its not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going' the Telegraph quoted him as saying.
'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.' said Hawking in an extract from his latest book. The Grand Design.
The problem is then, just who or what is at the back of these laws? If God is not needed to light the blue touch paper, didn't someone have to put the touch paper there in the first place? To say that the universe can create itself out of nothing is to ignore the fact that there were laws of physics in the first place that preceded the so called Big Bang.
Of course as has been pointed out, Hawking's hypothesis is just that - a hypothesis. It is not established even as a theory, much less a law. Furthermore, the multiverse our (universe being just one of many) hypothesis (in all its theoretical permutations, of which Hawking's is just one) does not prove the none existence of a cosmic prior intelligence. In fact the multiverse hypothesis has three flaws; first it is not falsifiable, second it begs the question; and third it certainly violates Occam's Razor, the principle that 'entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity' (i.e.the simplest explanation is usually the best!)
Of course one of the driving forces behind these hypothesis is the fact that the universe - or what we know of it - is incredibly finely tuned. Adjust any of the constants (like gravity) that make up the laws of physics by even a tiny amount and the whole universe takes on a completely different form, impossible for life as we know it to exist. The incredible fine tunung of the universe begs the question - who or what is behind the fine tuning?
We might be allowed to question whether this latest book of Hawking's is not an incedibly complicated attempt of theoretical physics to avoid certain worrying questions like these. Having rejected the 'God' hypothesis as inconvenient, are we not now trying to set up another which, like God, cannot be proved or disproved by scientific observation.
Hawking is of course a person as well known for his courageous battle against a debilitating disease as he is for his physics. However very few of the admirers of Stephen Hawking the man, will be able to cope with the incredibly complicated mathematics of the multiverse theory he expouses. Many scientists may feel that in his attempts to get to the universal theory of time and space and 'solve' the ultimate question, he has now gone decidedly into the realm of metaphysics.
We must be thankful then, that the God of the bible, though decidedly clever has not chosen to reveal Himself through the mathematical somersaults of Hawking's 'string' theory. He has instead chosen to reveal Himself in a way everyone - educated or illiterate - can underatand. That is through the person of Jesus Christ. You don'y need a computer and a huge set of brains to discover this God - He is there, sustaining the universe, yet revealing Himself to anyone who will humble himself and call on His Name.
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