God Didn't Create Universe

[ManusJustus]

Scoobes said:

ManusJustus said:

Hawking use to be more religious in the past, atleast that is what I got from some of his books and speeches.  Like Albert Einstein before him, Hawking would use God in some of his explanations, but Einstein was privately an atheist who considered religion a silly child's myth while Hawkings private ideas about religion haven't really come out (atleast to my knowledge).

I'm not sure if he was. From what I've read (and my understanding of it) he'd just use god as a concept to help get his theories across or to make his writing that bit more entertaining.

Here's what Wikipedia said.  Apparently he has been back and forth...

Hawking describes himself as an agnostic. He has repeatedly used the word "God" (in metaphorical meanings) to illustrate points made in his books and public speeches. His ex-wife, Jane said during their divorce proceedings that he was an atheist. Hawking has stated that he is "not religious in the normal sense" and he believes that "the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws." Hawking compared religion and science in 2010, saying: "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works." On September 2, 2010, Hawking wrote in The Grand Design that the laws of physics can create the universe out of nothing and that his previous use of the word "God" was merely rhetorical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_hawking