God did not create the universe: Says Stephen Hawking

Dear Mr. Stephen Hawking,

Recently I came across this news report on the net where they have referred to your latest book and quoted you having said that God did not create the universe.

By Michael Holden – Thu Sep 2, 9:08 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book.

Sir years ago I read your book  "A Brief History of Time," and then followed your articles and statements on black holes, big bang, gravity etc etc.

Though at times I did not fully understand your statements yet I always accepted those statements as authority having come from you. The underlying presumption was that you ARE an ‘authority’ on the subjects you write and you are making the statement after due research.

However Sir, I must confess, as I read this report on your latest book I have had a change of opinion and now for the first time I have felt a need to cross check your statements and search for corroborations from other writers or physicists. For the first time today I have felt that No… I don’t have to accept everything only because you have said it, I must evaluate it myself and then only should I decide whether to accept it or not. Your this statement has really affected your credibility. And that too adversely.

Your statement has given rise to a number of queries in my mind. Leaving apart the fact whether god did or did not create the universe, or even the basic question whether god exists or does NOT exist, the question on top of my mind is whether you believe in god or not ….? In your book if you had said that you do not believe in god it would have been a different thing altogether. God is a matter of faith and spiritual research more than it is a matter of ‘scientific’ research as we understand it today. You are well within your rights when you say you don’t believe in god. But when you say God did not do this… you create a doubt whether you are questioning the existence of God or that though you believe in god you are only questioning HIS capabilities. These are two different situations. One is about his being or not being and second is a position where you accept his presence but have doubts about his powers and capabilities.

For this query lets first see what if you really do not believe in existence of God. In that case I don’t think there is much to discuss. You have written so much about Big Bang. Its all fine. But what if I say I don’t believe in Big Bang, that it is all BIG BUNKUM and that nothing like Big Bang ever happened… what do you do? Nothing. The matter ends. So in case you don’t believe in god there’s nothing one can do. But in that case my only request would be that considering your position it would be better for all of us, and you as well, if you concentrate on your field of physics and refrain from making such abstract remarks on other fields. No one expects and will appreciate a lecture from you on matters of faith or spiritualism as you have not so far established yourself in those fields. Thus if you don’t have faith and understanding about god your this particular statement in your book becomes irrelevant and might even be considered a publicity gimmick by you like many other authors have done in the past.

On the contrary if we consider that though you believe in god but all you want to convey is that god has his limitations and has not  done all the things generally attributed to him, then it is entirely different situation. Then it becomes a matter of one’s personal understanding and interpretation of the things spiritual. You have stated that, and I quote, “the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics”. Very fine. Who can deny it. It is as much true as the fact that all evolution is an inevitable consequence of the laws of biology. All births and deaths and health and disease and happiness and sadness et al follow one law or the other. Either it is physics, biology, chemistry or anything else. It is not a matter of debate at all. But sir, frankly speaking the idea I get from your statement is that by reiterating the importance of the law of physics in Big Bang, you are deliberately trying to deny someone else his due. Unless you had a motive behind it, you would not have made such a statement about something so obvious.

Reading your statement as a whole, ‘God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics’, I get an idea as if you are saying , “Mom did not cook the meal and the dinner on my table was an inevitable consequence of the effect of heat on raw food…..”. How true. How true Mr. Hawking, yet how incomplete and how immature, and how insensitive. Purely from the periscope of your so called science yes, it is physics, chemistry or biology at work. Mom’s preparation of food and to put it in oven was an inevitable consequence of the laws of chemistry working in her brain releasing those chemicals at the right time to make her prepare the meal mechanically for her biological offspring. It is as simple in your view.

However, sir I assure you there is a lot more to it than mere chemistry and physics. We would be well advised not to speak of that unless we understand that fully. If we ignore this basic thing I don’t think we can do our mom or the god any harm but we sure stand to lose our own reputation and credibility.

Please think about it.

Sincerely,

A believer beyond physics, chemistry and biology.