VATICAN CITY — Stephen Hawking’s new book, The Grand Design, has triggered strong reactions from religious leaders.
The book by the British author is due to be released next week — just a week before Pope Benedict XVI’s scheduled visit to Great Britain Sept. 16-19.
In his new book, Hawking, who is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, poses the question whether the universe needs a creator; he concludes that God is not a necessary part of creation because the laws of physics and gravity show that something can come from nothing.
In the past he has asserted that religious beliefs and science were not incompatible — a postion the Vatican does agree with.
While the Vatican hasn’t come out with a reaction to the book yet, one of our favorite Vatican astronomers, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, just sent us his reaction to Hawking’s claims:
“The ‘god’ that Stephen Hawking doesn’t believe in, is one I don’t believe in either. God is not just another force in the universe, alongside gravity or electricity. God is not a force to be invoked to ‘swell a progress, start a scene or two’ and fill the momentary gaps in our knowledge.
“God is the reason why existence itself exists. God is the reason why space and time and the laws of nature can be present for the forces to operate that Stephen Hawking is talking about.”
CNS Blog 
Yes, he says “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing”. Fine, but then where does gravity come from? It just gets to be self existing without an explanation? 🙂
It is very easy to fall into repeating the common, and obvious, argument of “where does gravity come from?” etc…However, here’s another that comes to my mind, which is: gravity alone does not account for life nor its explanation. There are countless sequences that must occur for life to even form, let alone flourish; and to attribute life merely to one thing or another is an act of faith. I used to have a very profound respect for Mr. Hawking’s, but ever since his little tirade about aliens; their existence; and the imminent threat to pose to the human race: I sort of lost it. And now with this little stunt; it’s all but gone. Now, for those who may read this; roll their eyes; and say, “Oh, a religious person being offended by science; why am I not surprised?” I have no problem whatsoever with his lack of belief; I’m just dumb-founded how a scientific man can say, rather proudly, that there are aliens and that they pose a significant threat to humanity, illustrating no significant shred of evidence for his belief(s); but deny, fortrightly, the possibility of a higher beings’ existence. Scientifically speaking, isn’t this biased and throws into question the validity of his theorem? Because, after all, the scientific theory states, very clearly, that one cannot discard any possibility that might exist within the realm one is experimenting in. I dunno, maybe now I’m talking nonsense, but that is how I learned the scientific theory in school and how I’ve come to understand it as I go through life. Perhaps I am dead wrong, and anyone who can sufficently prove this; I bow down in humility and recognize my flawed rationality. 😀
If the man claims there are aliens, he can surely believe in God, and should. He has seen neither. If there are aliens, I’m certain they too, are God’s creation.
Ahhhh, human intellect….the modern day Tower of Babel….
In “The Grand Design” Stephen Hawking postulates that the M-theory may be the Holy Grail of physics…the Grand Unified Theory which Einstein had tried to formulate and later abandoned. It expands on quantum mechanics and string theory.
In my e-book on comparative mysticism is a quote by Albert Einstein: “…most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and most radiant beauty – which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive form – this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of all religion.”
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity is probably the best known scientific equation. I revised it to help better understand the relationship between divine Essence (Spirit), matter (mass/energy: visible/dark) and consciousness (fx raised to its greatest power). Unlike the speed of light, which is a constant, there are no exact measurements for consciousness. In this hypothetical formula, basic consciousness may be of insects, to the second power of animals and to the third power the rational mind of humans. The fourth power is suprarational consciousness of mystics, when they intuit the divine essence in perceived matter. This was a convenient analogy, but there cannot be a divine formula.
Seems like everyone agrees.
“God created …..created…man and the world from what?…Nothing.
In his previous works Hawking was more friendly to religion, what changed. It has clear that there is a huge market for strongly anti-religious atheist books. So Hawking has shifted his rhetoric to suit the market.
Still with Hawking and others attacking the faith we must work on defending the faith.
I have developed some new proofs for God and the Catholic faith. You can click on my name to find my web site and then look under the miracle heading. I invite you to read my work critically and refute it. You can leave your devastating analysis in the guest book or some place else more public. Tell me where in the guest book.