The atheist answers, “There is no explanation.”
The theist replies, God.
An intelligent case can be made for either answer.
But to say that the laws of physics alone answer
it is the purest nonsense
Bingo
Science can describe the Universe, but
It cannot, in principle, explain
Where it came from, or
Why it exists
For this, one requires a MetaPhysic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics
One massive missing piece in Hawkings’ theory is that whole issue of heat decay. In the process of any energy exchange, there is energy lost through heat. Matter is ultimately degraded into heat via energy exchange. Indeed, there is less matter now than there was but a second ago in the universe.
Thus, at some point in time, this universe had to have an origin. Matter had to be created out of nothing, as any collection of matter if left undisturbed would all decay to heat energy. As matter exists today, it came from something that defies scientific law.
A believer simply sees that as further evidence of the footprints of a Creator which is nice but really is but a footprint as opposed to the very real life of Christ, his Resurrection, and the impact that had upon history, the world, and the individual. For someone who is less sure, it is the first step towards allowing the acceptance of theological belief.
Hawking is a man with talent. It’s a shame he never learned to allow the love of Christ into his soul to drive that talent. He’d be a lot more at peace with life instead of battling endlessly against other with faith. Now he’s stuck in an endless cycle of self-justificaiton and (whether he chooses to admit it or not) guilt.