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| English: By Stephen Hawking (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
At Caltech, Noted Scientist, Dr. Stephen Hawking Offers a Perfect Example of Human Pride
"We now know..." How can those in the science world use this line over and over. Steven Hawking, undoubtedly one of the most brilliant men of this age, claims to know a long list of things about the universe that I can faithfully predict will be considered preposterous within a generation.
Hawking spoke at Caltech here in Pasadena this week, and he is a very good speaker. Funny, charming, and intellectually challenging. Due to the wonders wrought by engineers schooled by science,
the talk is already up on YouTube for you to enjoy. But the good Dr Hawkings doesn't seem clever enough to figure out the limits of his knowledge. His adoring fans cheer him on never-the-less.
He begins by giving a history of theories related to the origins and nature of the universe, including the question of whether time includes a beginning and an end. In the course of his discussion he must debunk earlier theories proposed by equally brilliant and adored scientists, most of whom proposed and gained popular support for their theories in the 20th century.
Of course, scientists such as Hawking and others, argue that as the tools get better, or new ideas in related science add context to old theories, that the theories change and adapt. They are better. Therefore we have: "We now know....."
But in order to debunk theories of just 30 or 40 years ago, and offer what we now "know" because of new information, wouldn't it be the purest logic to assume that we will have better tools and new insights over the next few decades that will change what we are now claiming to "know?" To be fair, the word know is sometimes softened with "I now believe." Wouldn't a much more precise turn of phrase be: "based on our current ability to observe, test, and understand, there seems to be good evidence for the possibility of..." Wouldn't it be great if they had used that language regarding global warming a few years ago?
You may be aware that one of the things which Hawking "knows" is that there is no God, and truly no need of God or any primogenitor (first mover). He has perfect confidence in the
big bang theory, right down to explaining the speed with which matter burst our of the original little ball of matter. He says that science can explain how that matter has always existed, and that it makes perfect sense for this matter to explode into a universe like it did, including billions of galaxies, black holes and all the rest. In fact, he "believes" that other such universes have been launched from other balls of matter.
There is no need for him to provide a creative source for the matter contained in the ball, because it will be shown to fit within the
laws of science. He never bothers to explain where the laws of science came from, why they exist at all, and why they are so dependable. In fact, it is their very dependability upon which scientists like Hawking are able to base their entire system of theses and antitheses. All it would take is for one little element of those laws to stop working, and everything would collapse on itself.
I am not going to fall into the same trap as Hawking and his disciples. Philosophically, Christianity has the same problem. God spoke the universe into being. We can only take that by faith. But our philosophical dilemma becomes: who or what created God? Our answer is much stronger than science, however, and I suspect this is why so many scientists do believe in God.
The Amazing Evidence for God
We have a
Bible that has existed in some form or other for 7000 years. It is the most studied item in history. Based on those studies, we know that the Bible has been faithfully reproduced over those 7000 years. We have hundreds of prophesies that have clearly been fulfilled. Babylon has never been restored. Nor has
Nineveh. The list goes on. The Jews have returned to Israel and have become prosperous while defending themselves against a billion neighbors who are working to destroy them. Then there's Jesus.
Billions of individuals, many with equal or even more horsepower between their ears than Hawking, have studied the Bible, archeology, related history, and more, only to conclude that the Bible has it right and continues to provide the best prescription for a joyful life. Science and the social sciences change the prescription for a joyful or "happy" life as often as music styles change. And this Bible says that God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. If we take his "creating the universe and all that is in it by speaking it into existence" by faith, then I guess we can conclude by faith that if He says that He was not created but "Is," that is the end of the story. Not by my wisdom, but by my faith.
Many in the Hawking's camp call themselves skeptics. They are, of course, skeptical of Biblical knowledge and ideas. I wonder that they are not as skeptical of science which is forever offering us new "knowledge" while laughing at the stupid stuff they called knowledge not that long ago.
So, when God speaks repeatedly of pride, he is speaking specifically of the kind of pride that Hawking exhibits. A pride of knowing how things came to be, and a pride of believing the one of God's created beings doesn't need God in order to breath his next breath. It will be these very same skeptics who won't turn to God when Israel begins to
rebuild the Temple, because they know that the Biblical prophesies are just made up.
