- John Archibald Wheeler, GRAVITATION, pg. 1208
As scientists get all bent out of shape when religious folks cross ‘into their domain’, let me say to Stephen, “Stick to your empirical data, Stephen, and leave the religion to people who know what they are talking about.”
There are no self-creating causes either. So a universe that just comes about on its own isn’t science that’s someone’s faith belief.
How could a law concerning the relationship between matter exist before matter itself existed?
But how does the Hawk squawk?
Here we go, once again, with another article (thanks for posting it, btw), which tries to claim HAWKING said there is no GOD, when all he said is that GOD can’t be used as ‘an’ answer in Science.
I'm probably goin' to hell for it.
All that has happened is that Hawking took the Rorschach test he unwittingly set forth and has been revealed as an atheist.
Yawn!
Hawking has been chasing the rabbit far too long... it has long since run down into its hole, while hawking imagines he is still giving chase... poor guy... if he would only give it up...
I suspect what he is getting at is a theory that's been around for a few years that nothingness is an inherently unstable state. According to the theory, something can spontaneously emerge from nothing.
Because he chooses to believe in the superiority of empiricism to explain reality, the secular-scientist accepts the world-view of naturalism. He uses an inductive argument based on individual, scientifically demonstrated, immutable laws of nature and makes them to collectively become an idea he calls Natural Law. It is his belief that this Natural Law is the impersonal, governing agent, which brings order to the universe and makes the knowledge of reality possible. Because any violation of this Natural Law would destroy his entire world-view, he constructs a definition for the concept of miracles that automatically precludes their possibility. He dismisses the historical evidence of the occurrence of miracles, as being so inferior to the scientific evidence that they are impossible, that he claims the historical evidence is unworthy of any reasonable consideration in this matter. In the event one might still harbor a remnant of the faith once delivered to the saints, he then enlists the discipline of higher criticism to cast doubt upon the historical record of Scripture.
The Christian chooses to believe in the sovereignty of God to explain reality. He uses a deductive argument that begins with the God Who had the ability, desire and purpose for creating the physical universe. He believes in the necessity for universal order, but seeks to understand it as existing within the will and purpose of the Creator. Because all of reality exists within the will and purpose of God, when He decides that it serves His purpose, He may cause events to occur that ordinarily do not do so, without this occurrence abrogating the concept of universal order. The historical record of the many miracles found in Scripture adds validation to this belief.
For the secular scientist the greatest reality is “Natural Law” and all things exist within and are subject to it. For thw Christian the greatest reality is God and all things wxist within and are subject to Him.
I think gravity made popcorn but that’s about it.