God and Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking died today.  He was an intellectual giant who would have accomplished much leading a normal life, but considering that he accomplished what he did while struggling with ALS is nothing short of amazing.  In one of those weird circumstances that people will speculate about, Hawking was born on the 300^th anniversary of Galileo’s birth and died on the 139^th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s birth.  Oh … and it is Pi Day, which is March 14^th or 3.14, the mathematical constant that describes the area of a circle.

The scientific community will pay tribute to Hawking, as will the larger world, and rightfully so.  But that does not matter to him now.  His name has already been enshrined as a scientific great and his reputation will likely grow in death.  I did not see it, but the movie that was made about his life several years ago was apparently a success.  But none of that matters to him now.  He leaves behind children and grandchildren and many admirers, but none of that matters to him now.

Hawking once famously said, “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” Quite a statement, but when a man trusts his own intellect as sovereign, it is the kind of statement he would make.  Early in his career he did not deny the existence of God, but stated that even if God set the laws of the universe in motion, He did not intervene to break those laws.  Ultimately, Hawking stated he was an atheist and said, “We are each free to believe what we want and it is my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful.” 

I am extremely grateful for this life, too, and consider a gift from God. I am not afraid of the dark, or death as Hawking was likely speaking metaphorically.  I am intelligent, although not at the Hawking level, and I can think for myself.  Unfortunately, I am emotional, too, and I could think smugly, “I guess Hawking is learning the truth now” based on my belief in the next life.  But what I feel today is a sense of loss, not just for Hawking, but for each of us who trusts himself for the answers to life’s questions.  There are so many people who have magnificent gifts of intellect, artistic talent, physical abilities, etc., that believe in themselves because of those gifts.  There is nothing wrong with believing in yourself in terms of confidence, but there is something profoundly wrong in believing in yourself as the source of those gifts and abilities.

I am not offering apologetics arguments today, although it would have been interesting to have those discussions with Hawking (and more than a bit intimidating), but simply stating that I do believe in God the Creator, Sustainer of Life and Redeemer of Lost Souls.  My beliefs lead me to the conclusion that people who do not share them will find themselves in an afterlife devoid of all that is good, i.e., the love of God.  We cannot imagine what that will be like and how we will respond (I should write a song), but it should break our hearts when people die who have boldly proclaimed their unbelief.

Despite his disease, Stephen Hawking was a giant.  He was an image bearer of the Creator who chose to ignore the Creator.  Unfortunately, his reputation on Earth will carry no weight in eternity.  The “fairy story” of Heaven is available only through the grace God offers through His sacrificial love.  I respect Stephen Hawking, but I deeply regret that he will not know the joy of learning first-hand what his life’s work was about, and an even greater regret that He will not experience the ultimate joy of life in the presence of His Creator.