Headlines are boldly proclaiming it, talks shows are happily buzzing, and the comments columns on internet sites have been heating up steadily ever since news broke on world famous physicist Stephen Hawking’s latest book which apparently disproves God entirely. Or more correctly, disproves the need for there to be a God actively involved in the creation of the universe.
Hawking says in his book "The Grand Design" that, given the existence of gravity, "the universe can and will create itself from nothing," according to an excerpt published on Thursday in The Times of London.
"Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," he says.
"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe going," he writes.
Hawking co-wrote the book with science writer Leonard Mlodinow, and their answer is what they have called the “M-theory,” which posits 11 space-time dimensions, "vibrating strings, point particles, two-dimensional membranes, three-dimensional blobs and other objects that are more difficult to picture and occupy even more dimensions of space."
If you are confused about why exactly this may disprove God, then read on.
Hawking says that while he understands the feelings of the renowned English scientist Sir Isaac Newton - that God did "create" and "conserve" order in the universe and designed it uniquely to be comfortable for human life - the discovery of other solar systems outside our own in 1992 undercuts this key idea.
Hawking argues that if there are untold numbers of planets in the galaxy, it's less remarkable that there's one with conditions for human life. In fact, according to Hawking, any form of intelligent life that evolves anywhere will automatically find that it lives somewhere suitable for it.
Hawking then introduces the idea of multiple universes, saying that if there are many universes, one will have laws of physics like ours - and in such a universe, something not only can, but must, arise from nothing. Therefore, he concludes, there's no need for God to explain it.
However, many of Hawking's Cambridge colleagues believe that the famous physicist is missing a vital point in his arguments and that as a result he is debunking the wrong God.
"The 'god' that Stephen Hawking is trying to debunk is not the creator God of the Abrahamic faiths who really is the ultimate explanation for why there is something rather than nothing," said Denis Alexander, director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.
"Hawking's god is a god-of-the-gaps used to plug present gaps in our scientific knowledge.”
Fraser Watts, an Anglican priest and Cambridge expert in the history of science, said that it's not the existence of the universe that proves the existence of God. And, he said, "a creator God provides a reasonable and credible explanation of why there is a universe, and ... it is somewhat more likely that there is a God than that there is not. That view is not undermined by what Hawking has said."
In his blog, The Cosmic Log, the science editor and author Alan Boyle underscores these sentiments by writing:
“Does Hawking's view mean that modern physics "leaves no place for God in the creation of the universe," as the Times suggests, or that "God did not create the universe," as The Guardian claims? Not unless you need a "God of the Gaps" to step into science's place. A more sophisticated view would hold that physics (and evolutionary biology, to cite another example) are the not-always-mysterious ways in which God routinely works. In fact, Soren Kierkegaard would say that God's workings have to be transparent — and I tend to side with Soren.”
While controversy will continue to rage because it sells newspapers, and ‘evangelical’ atheists like Richard Dawkins will be quick to jump on this particular bandwagon (and indeed, already have), it does need to be clearly stated that Hawking’s suppositions about why God may not NEED to exist have already been argued for decades now. Which is why cynics might well wonder if the sensationalist angle of Hawking’s book is being deliberately worked to sell more copies! Yet, it is important for Christians to enter this debate in a manner that is gracious, thoughtful and sensitive rather than being angrily reactional. It is also important to remember that Hawking clearly has not disproved God once and for all, and that respected Christian scientists have serious grounds to argue that even if every mystery of the universe is explained by science, it will not explain away the God who may use (as he always has) the ‘not-always-mysterious ways’ to routinely work in the universe.
Hawking's book will be published on September 7 in the United States and on September 9 in the United Kingdom.