How can Stephen Hawking say there "IS NO God" (i.e., with certainty)?

[Cor_ad_Cor]

But what’s the context?

 

[catholic1seeks]

Via the article:

“There is no God. No one directs the universe,” he writes in “Brief Answers to the Big Questions.”

“For centuries, it was believed that disabled people like me were living under a curse that was inflicted by God,” he adds. “I prefer to think that everything can be explained another way, by the laws of nature.”

It’s from a new book.

Even more arrogant when he says so in a book called “Brief Answers to the BIG QUESTIONS.”

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Again, not enough to establish context, in my opinion. I think he’s trying to make a valid scientific point, not claim a certainty that science can’t delve into, which is what popular media would have us think.

 

[catholic1seeks]

He said “There is no God.”

What more do we need?

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

I think there’s a difference between “the sky is falling” and “it’s raining”

 

[pnewton]

I had seen this article, and was not surprised. For all the gripes about the Church interfering with science, there are many scientist that fancy themselves theologians. In any case, I am sure this has been cleared up for him by now.

 

[IWantGod]

Then he should have said improbable.

He thinks that because the big-bang may not have a physical cause in the traditional sense (According to Stephen Hawking, the laws of Physics allow the Big Bang to happen, because the random motion of subatomic particles generated energy to create an explosion), he seems to think that this is a sufficient metaphysical answer for the existence of physical reality. But that is simply not true. In fact no scientific theory can explain the why of everything in principle. His theory simply explains the big bang.

It never ceases to amaze me when scientists make big metaphysical statements and act like it’s science.

 

[pnewton]

He thinks that because the big-bang may not have a physical cause in the traditional sense ( According to Stephen Hawking, the laws of Physics allow the Big Bang to happen, because the random motion of subatomic particles generated energy to create an explosion ),

The cause of the Big Bang casts no light on the subject of God. This is a scientific attempt to answer the philosophical argument of causality. It is arrogant to be certain of much outside of the known universe, that is, prior to the Big Bang, but even if we did, it only pushes the argument from first cause back one more notch.

 

[catholic1seeks]

@Cor_ad_Cor Sigh, unfortunately, I was putting too much confidence in the mainstream media’s reporting.

Hawking indeed said “there is no God.”

But a fuller quote from another article says:

“We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God”

There is definitely a new nuance here.

I don’t really understand how this headline makes anything new, then. Didn’t we already know this about Stephen Hawking?

 

[Roseeurekacross]

Hawking is dead

 

[JapaneseKappa]

To say “there is no God” requires a particular God. If you say “there is no God, for any definition of God” we can just say “I define God to mean me, and because I exist you are wrong.”

So once we have a particular God instead of a nebulous “any arbitrary thing called god” it is actually possible to say there is no God. For example, if we defined God to be a square circle, then we could confidently prove that God can’t exist the exact way we can prove square circles can’t exist.

 

[therese1998]

I know this “prove/disprove God exists” thing gets people tied up in knots, but it’s always been simple to me. I have personally experienced God, so the question of whether He exists or not is settled for me. The next person will have to wrestle with that question for him/herself. I’m happy to relay my own experiences and my own faith, but ultimately, I can’t MAKE anyone believe or disbelieve in the existence of God. At best, I can arguably influence them, but it is not possible for a human to convince another human that God exists. Only God convinces

 

[Padres1969]

Seeing as this was his final work and he was an avowed atheist It’s pretty safe to assume he died an atheist.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

Yep. So now he knows better.

 

[Diaconia]

King David teaches us that a fool says in his heart, “there is no God.”

Knowledge without faith is like taking a shower with a raincoat on.

I am a sinner,
Deacon Christopher

 

[theCardinalbird]

“There is no God. No one directs the universe,” he writes in “Brief Answers to the Big Questions.”

“For centuries, it was believed that disabled people like me were living under a curse that was inflicted by God,” he adds. “I prefer to think that everything can be explained another way, by the laws of nature.”

His first comment strikes me as blunt. His second comment makes me wonder if he is biased and sadly ill-informed. Did Jesus Christ say the disabled were living under a curse inflicted by God? Is this a matter of Catholic teaching and philosophy or is this a matter of personal misunderstanding?

 

[theCardinalbird]

According to Stephen Hawking, the laws of Physics allow the Big Bang to happen, because the random motion of subatomic particles generated energy to create an explosion

This isn’t directed to you @IWantGod but rather to just show what I am thinking:

Ok and how did the laws of physics come to be? Why did at a given moment did these subatomic particles generate energy to create an explosion?

 

[ChristMyLife]

Does anyone know how Hawking died - atheist or Christian ?

He was an avowed atheist, and there is zero indication or reason to believe he had some 11th hour conversion or repented.

 

[ChristMyLife]

There are no “physical” proofs for God, which is what most atheists seem to want.

I’m convinced that some hardened public atheists, even if Jesus did to them what he did to Thomas - appeared in person and had them stick their finger in his side then disappear - that within hours or days of it happening they’d convince themselves it was a dream, a waking vision, a hoax, a hallucination, something, anything, just not that Jesus the Christ of God appeared to them.

Many of the “new atheists” aren’t even true atheists any way. They are misotheists - they hate God and the idea of God. Listen to the passion with which Dawkins speaks and the words he uses - he doesn’t simply lack belief in a deity. He HATES the very idea of God.

Atheism is a sickness of the heart and soul which stems from a combination of sin, pride, incredulity, and a host of other things - not a lack of physical evidence. The medicine which cures atheism is faith, humility, and the Grace of God.

 

[Vico]

At most, can’t you only say God is improbable?

Doesn’t saying absolutely “there is no God” suggest irresponsible use of reason?

How can someone say there IS NO God, therefore implying certainty?

He said “There is no God. No one directs the universe.”
This is directly contrary to Vatican I doctrine (Session III, chapter 1):

4. Everything that God has brought into being he protects and governs by his providence, which reaches from one end of the earth to the other and orders all things well [Wis 8, 1]. All things are open and laid bare to his eyes [Heb 4, 13], even those which will be brought about by the free activity of creatures.