Is Stephen Hawking Right About God?

In Stephen Hawking's final book, "Brief Answers to the Big Questions," published just a few months after his death, the famed scientist suggests that God does not exist and the universe does not require an explanation. Is he right? Brandon Vogt and I discuss in today's episode of the Word on Fire Show.

[monikacoates]

I really love the way you guys talk science and religion in this episode. It's mind opening. :)

[josephryan]

Love that answer to Elizabeth's question. Thank you.

[Epiousios]

5:12 This is very, very true. As someone who grew up when the internet was really coming into prominence hearing how some of the "smartest people in the world" are atheists can really affect your thinking.

[BeefyBoyWonder]

I actually laughed out loud when they read Hawking's statement of "There isn't a possibility of God because before the big bang, time didn't exist, so a being couldn't exist". Like...wait...really? THAT'S IT?! The church has already dealt with this idea like over a million times....c'mon man, pay attention.

[lalalalalalalalalawl]

"Nothing is stupider than the presumed superiority of an atheist" - Nietzsche.

[davidgormley]

All I can say is that Stephen Hawking NOW knows of God's existence!

[budokarate]

Excellent review on that first chapter. God bless

[the-Carpenter]

I think it's a 'good' time to catch Bishop Barron when he is still coming to terms with jet lag. It's not often that you see him setting aside his usual softness and going straight for the jugular. I just loved this Q&A.

[marypinakat]

As of today there's no reliable individual who can make a reliable assessment of important and sought after topics and makes it available for others one and all. Brilliant take on 'Hawking and Company'!
Thanks Bishop Barron and thanks Brandon!

[ProximaCentauri]

Thank you Bishop Barron. Please visit my country, the Philippines. Our people needs an English-speaking Catholic intellectual. The lay people here are so vulnerable to proselytist Mormons and other Protestants.

[normaodenthal]

If God is love, and it is claimed that God does not exist, then the obvious conclusion is that love does not exist. Science may be able to measure what love looks like on the outside, but it cannot tell you anything about the experience of love from the inside.

[vietfunmk]

Every tiny things in this world has purpose and goal... Even the smallest cell in a human body has goal and purpose

[marysyomiti]

He really did concentrate on religion and God in his final days. I read that people find God in their final years or hours because they lower their walls and open their hearts to more possibilities. I read a book by Jesuit Fathers about how God comes in when you open your heart and lower your walls.

[dostondoc]

Thank you, Bishop. Such an informative discussion!

[pneumarian]

When the first premise by which you conduct your logical explorations is that "The material universe is all that matters, " you will never come to any conclusions which question it.

[itinerantpatriot]

The Bishop makes a very good point about the effects of the elevation of STEM and business in our universities and the diminishment of liberal arts. Looking back, I think it really started with the creation of the consumer culture following WWII and the launch of Sputnik by the Soviets in 1957. Consumerism placed a higher emphasis on wealth creation and Sputnik led to a concerted effort by the government to put science-based curriculum at the front of the line to close a perceived knowledge gap between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Over time, the diminishment of philosophy and liberal arts has led to an overall decline in critical thinking and creativity within our society. The clearest example of this loss of creative energy can be found in Hollywood where most of what is produced is either rehashed woke messaging or remakes of earlier movies and TV shows.

But more to the point of this video, it always makes me shake my head when I hear the latest theoretical claim to explain existence. Science will grasp any straw to explain the Divine. I saw a video the other night where a theoretical physicist was carrying on about multiverse theory which is all the rage these days. He was trying to resolve the fine-tuning problem as they call it by saying the laws of physics may not apply evenly across the board, a handy argument to explain faster than light travel at the moment of the Big Bang (hyperinflation) and other pesky problems that plague their computer models. His case for a random universe came down to the argument that we were simply the winners of a 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 -1 cosmic lottery. He even went so far as to say there may well be universe's out there completely devoid of matter and energy. In other words, a vast galactic ocean of nothingness where anti-matter won the lottery, a universe that serves no purpose, which, quite handily, exists outside of space and time as we know it.

So, entire universes can exist outside of time and space and break all kinds of rules as they do it but God can't. This is where the high priests of scientism display their intellectual dishonesty and engage in the very thing they call superstition on my part, faith. For me anyway, it takes a lot more faith to believe in a random universe than it does in one that is ordered by a being who transcends space and time. But that's just me. In the meantime, I'll continue to look for scientific answers in scientific places and spiritual answers in spiritual places. There is no contradiction for me but then again, I'm not competing against anyone or anything for supremacy in this world. I do wonder how that conversation between Mr. Hawking and God went, but that is a topic for another day.

[LostArchivist]

God armed me in this by answering my request to show me the answer to that problem and faced me with solipsisms and the Void and saw me through them. It was arduous but it got me what I asked for.

[mongooseman]

A Genius like Stephen Hawking would be the right person to ask about how the material physical works but not about philosophy or theology

[beatleasis]

hello which of bishop barron's books explores in writing these answers he gives regarding faith and science? thank you!

[Jiji-vzwg]

I enjoyed listening to this. Looking forward to future uploads. God bless WoF ministry.