God Didn't Create the Universe/ But What About Me?

A blog should have some focus. Whether it is about cooking or sewing or living in a foreign land, people want to know what to expect. What is my blog about? It probably seems random. It looks like I'm just picking topics out of a hat. Thoughts of a Post-Grad English Major. These are my thoughts. Usually they float around during the day, and I have a good idea about how I want to address them by the time I write. This is why they vary so wildly. In this way we lose the comfort of the familiar, and also the feeling of forward progress that might come with a blog regarding any type of adventure. But at least one thing is gained; the freedom to write about anything in any way. The world of this particular blog is free. "A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you."- Neo




I came across an article with a title that demanded I take a closer look, Stephen Hawking: God didn't create the universe. Here are some of Hawking's quotes from the article, which came from his new book, The Grand Design.

"The universe can and will create itself from nothing."

"Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe going."


And here is an excerpt describing another topic of the book.

It was the discovery of other solar systems outside our own, in 1992, that undercut a key idea of Newton's -- that our world was so uniquely designed to be comfortable for human life that some divine creator must have been responsible.
But, Hawking argues, if there are untold numbers of planets in the galaxy, it's less remarkable that there's one with conditions for human life.
And, indeed, he argues, any form of intelligent life that evolves anywhere will automatically find that it lives somewhere suitable for it.



I read this article a few times. Then I came to this conclusion:

I don't actually know that Stephen Hawking is a genius. People say he is a genius and I take their word for it. I haven't met him, and even if I had, would I be able to appreciate and understand his intelligence? He would tell me all of these theories and formulas, and I would struggle to make sense of them. Of course, I would never grasp them. I barely passed high school algebra with a C-. But here is what I do know.
Hawking's theories are certainly based on mountains of scientific data. He isn't on a bloodthirsty crusade to wipe out religion. He is simply writing about what he believes. His beliefs, unlike many of those claiming to have religion, are extremely well thought out and tested. His life is in physics. He relates to it.
In a similar way, I relate to Jesus Christ. As Hawking surely poured over the works of those great physicists who came before him, I immerse myself in the works of the prophets and the apostles and the gospel writers. As Hawking surely stayed up late at night thinking, questioning, and writing about how the universe works, I do the same, but about how God works in my life, and in the world.
We all have an inner life that no one sees. And a way that no one can truly understand. Nevertheless, we all choose our own gods. Hawking chooses to make physics his god. I choose to follow Jesus Christ. There is no escape from this. What you choose will become you.

When I see that someone has claimed that God did not create the world that I live in, I can only respond, "But what about me?"