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Stephen Hawking has reached the conclusion that God is not necessary for the creation of the universe. While he may be an eminent scientist, I feel that his philosophy is somewhat flawed. He cites the existence of the Law of Gravity and presumably the other physical laws of nature as sufficient to enable the universe to spontaneously come into being.
Two points:
1. Laws stand in relation to something, e.g. the Laws of Nature, the Law of the Land etc. Laws do not simply exist in an abstract sense; without nature there are no Laws of Nature, without a government there are Laws of the Land.
2. Before creation there was no Law of Gravity because there was nothing for Gravity to be in relation to.
It is our limitation we always come up against when we try to see the mind of God: we are looking with finite minds into an infinite existence which we cannot see. The human mind cannot conceive of a “void” - a place where nothing exists, not even the Law of Gravity. Hawking imagines the pre-physical universe as a place of emptiness. The Christian sees it as a place where only God exists. Hawking sees the universe as an accident, a result of the Laws of physics. The Christian experiences it as a wonderful unfolding of God’s creative life. Thank God I’m only an uneducated layman…….with faith!
(article submitted to Irish News, Sept 3rd)
Two points:
1. Laws stand in relation to something, e.g. the Laws of Nature, the Law of the Land etc. Laws do not simply exist in an abstract sense; without nature there are no Laws of Nature, without a government there are Laws of the Land.
2. Before creation there was no Law of Gravity because there was nothing for Gravity to be in relation to.
It is our limitation we always come up against when we try to see the mind of God: we are looking with finite minds into an infinite existence which we cannot see. The human mind cannot conceive of a “void” - a place where nothing exists, not even the Law of Gravity. Hawking imagines the pre-physical universe as a place of emptiness. The Christian sees it as a place where only God exists. Hawking sees the universe as an accident, a result of the Laws of physics. The Christian experiences it as a wonderful unfolding of God’s creative life. Thank God I’m only an uneducated layman…….with faith!
(article submitted to Irish News, Sept 3rd)