Stephen Hawking: God was not needed to create the Universe

The scientist has claimed that no divine force was needed to explain why the Universe was formed.

In his latest book, The Grand Design, an extract of which is published in Eureka magazine in The Times, Hawking said: “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.”

He added: “It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going.”

In A Brief History of Time, Prof Hawking's most famous work, he did not dismiss the possibility that God had a hand in the creation of the world.

He wrote in the 1988 book: "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we should know the mind of God.”

In his new book he rejects Sir Isaac Newton's theory that the Universe did not spontaneously begin to form but was set in motion by God.

In June this year Prof Hawking told a Channel 4 series that he didn't believe that a "personal" God existed. He told Genius of Britain: "The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions."

Until his retirement last year Prof Hawking was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a post previously held by Newton.

The book, co-written by American physicist Leonard Mlodinow, is published on September 9.

I feel sorry for Stephan Hawking.

Don't worry he'll be judged in the end and it will not be to his liking. I am sure he will then believe in GOD.

Napoleon once asked the mathematician and astronomer Laplace about his (then) recent work on the solar system, asking why there was no mention of a creator in it. Laplace is reported to have said, "I had no need of that hypothesis."

I think Professor Hawking is saying something similar today, only touching on his own field of study. So this is really nothing new. The earlier event happened almost 140 years ago.

What I find disturbing is the negative emotional reaction to people who are simply being honest about their scientific views (which must be based on evidence, not faith).

IF, as Hawking said, "the Universe could create itself
...from nothing" ..."because of the Law-of-Gravity",
..............WHO then CREATED the GRAVITY ??

IF, as Hawking said, "the Universe could create itself
...from nothing" ..."because of the Law-of-Gravity",
..............WHO then CREATED the GRAVITY ??

Oh, that is sooo true and a great catch on the "smartest man alive".
Hawkings needs a Damascus Road experience.
Cynthia

In physics, "laws" are not legislative matters, but only descriptions of general principles.

It makes perfect sense to ask a question like, "Who made the law that potential candidates for office must pay thousands of dollars for their names to appear on the ballot in Florida?" However, it is a very different type of question to ask, "Who made the law of gravity" or "Who made the rule that the accretion of matter by gravity results in roughly spherical bodies when the masses are sufficiently large?" The scientific meaning for the words "law" and "rule" are completely different from the legislative meaning of the words, so it only causes confusion to mix them up accidentally.

To understand what Hawking is writing about, it is necessary to know what he is really saying, what the words mean in context.