Hawking, God and Creation
By Matthew Firth
I don’t often find myself commenting on books that have not yet been published, but I feel the need to join the trend of recent days and give my perspective on Stephen Hawking’s forthcoming book The Grand Design, due to be released on 9th September.
As a result of extracts from the book being published in The Times, various sensationalist headlines have popped up in the press, such as this offering from the BBC website: ‘Stephen Hawking: God did not create universe’. It has to be said that the study of the interaction between science and theology is a vast and complex arena of thought and debate, and few things are as clear cut as they might first seem. It turns out, though, to my mind at least, that this particular episode of the media’s reporting of the science/theology interface can be dealt with fairly easily, and with significant advantage in the area of Christian apologetics.
Our first task is to identify what Hawking has actually written, which is admittedly difficult given that, at the time of writing this, his book has not yet been published! We can, however, get a good picture of Hawking’s view from various extracts that have appeared in The Times. It seems that Hawking’s current view is that the laws of physics themselves can bring the universe into existence, thus rendering obsolete the idea that God is needed to ‘light the blue touch paper’ and set the universe going.
A number of things can be said about this. Firstly, Hawking’s view can hardly be simplistically condensed into the statement that ‘God did not create [the] universe’, as BBC headline editors have tried to do. Hawking has not denied the existence of God as Creator, he has simply denied one particular presentation of that doctrine which says that God lit the blue touch paper at the beginning of time, kick-started things, and then left the universe to get on with it. Rather, says Hawking, the deep laws of physics are the means by which the universe comes into being and evolves into the future.
In a sense, then, Hawking’s view is actually quite similar to the standard Christian view. The Bible does not teach that God lit the blue touch paper at the beginning of time and then left the universe to get on with things. Rather, the Bible presents a picture of a God who, through his Word and through his deep wisdom and reason, brings the universe into existence and continues to do so in an intimate way at every moment. Surprisingly, then, what Hawking sees as the deep laws of physics creating and sustaining the universe, Christians see as the divine Word (Greek: logos) of God, which is the deep reason and wisdom of God that lies behind all existence moment by moment.
I’m not arguing that Hawking’s view is identical to the Christian view. I’m simply illustrating the point that, to me, it does not seem to be a huge intellectual step to travel from Hawking’s view, that the deep laws of nature lie behind all existence, to the Christian view that says the deep personal wisdom and reason of the divine logos of God lies behind the continuing existence of the universe.
Indeed, I would want to argue that some of Hawking’s earlier writings require such an intellectual step to be taken. In the final chapter of his famous A Brief History of Time (which is probably second only to the Bible in being the most owned but least read book), Hawking makes some important statements and asks some crucial questions:
Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? Is the unified theory so compelling that it brings about its own existence? Or does it need a creator, and, if so, does he have any other effect on the universe?
- A Brief History of Time pp.192-93 (Bantam Books, 1988)
I believe that Hawking needs to take the intellectual (and spiritual, which is closely linked with the intellectual) step of recognising that the deep laws of nature (the unified theory, as he calls it) are a reflection of the deep wisdom, reason and Word of God which lies behind all existence. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? God. Is the unified theory so compelling that it brings about its own existence? Yes, because the universe is an inexorable overflow from the love of God, expressed in the depths of his divine Word (the logos, who was made flesh in Jesus). Does it need a creator? It does. The divine Word of God underlies all of existence, creating and sustaining the whole universe moment by moment. Does the creator have any other effect on the universe? Oh yes! But that’s where the Easter story begins...
In conclusion, Stephen Hawking has not denied the existence of a creator. Rather, and probably unbeknown to him, he has expressed a view of creation which chimes in tune with the Christian view, and which may well open the way for others to see what he does not yet see: that the deep laws of nature are a glorious reflection of the wise and loving heart at the heart of the universe.
Matthew Firth read astrophysics at Cambridge and theology at Oxford and is now curate of St Matthew, Triangle & All Saints, Ipswich.
The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Ipswich, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below.
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