The late physicist Stephen Hawking did not believe in God. ”’Do I have faith?’ he writes in Brief Answers to the Big Questions (his final book, jrp). ‘We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God. No one created the universe, and no one directs our fate’” (“‘There is no God,’ Stephen Hawking writes in final book,” Gael F. Cooper, cnet.com).

Mr. Hawking was a materialist. He explored and explained physical phenomena. He did not allow for the possibility of anything except a physical world. He rejected humans are dual beings of both flesh and spirit (Eccl. 12:7). He discarded belief in a Creator in whose image we were created. To him, no God gave us life and no God sustains us.

Hawking relied on the physical forces of the world and the laws of physics that explain them (like gravity). What was his answer for how these forces came into existence? Hawking believed in spontaneous creation, not by a supreme Creator, but by the very laws of nature that hold together the universe. “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist,” Hawking writes in his recently published book, The Grand Design” (“Stephen Hawking Explains Spontaneous Creation in Discovery Channel Series,” Fionna Agamuoh, Christian Post, 8/4/2011). To him, the universe “popped into existence without violating the known laws of Nature,” and that “the discovery of these laws (origin and structure of the universe, jrp) is mankind’s greatest achievement” (Ibid).

And so, we have the genius fool. “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psa. 14:1). Where is the spontaneous creation of which he wrote? And, from whence do physical forces originate? Evidence for a Supreme Creator is in the heavens themselves: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). Its precision, its power, its expanse screams from the heavens, “there is a God!” His invisible attributes are on full display in the heavens and in the earth (Rom. 1:20).

Ironically, Hawking believes there is other intelligent life in the universe. “There are forms of intelligent life out there,” he writes. “We need to be wary of answering back until we have developed a bit further” (“‘There Is No God,’ the Late Stephen Hawking Says in Final Book,” Michael Foust, christianheadlines.com). He rejects intelligent design by an intelligent creator, while believing matter spontaneously created the building blocks of intelligent life.

This is the “knowledge” our children face in classrooms from elementary through college. We must explain to them why God is real and the Bible is His word – no one else will!). The evidence for God is visible in this world’s design, including the laws He put into place to sustain it – and us (Acts 14:15-17; 17:24-25; Col. 1:17).

The existence of God does not contradict science (including physics). Nothing comes from nothing. Everything comes from something. Genesis 1 identifies God as the One with the intelligence and the power to spontaneously create everything, including the laws that govern their existence. All the earth should fear the Lord, “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psa. 33:8-9). I suspect Mr. Hawking know that by now. (Do you?) Do not be afraid of nor be drawn astray by what is falsely called knowledge (1 Tim. 6:20-21).