Hawking's "A Brief History In Time"...?

Question

In the chapter where he discusses singularity, and the "big bang" -- just what "God" is he referring to loosely, in the first chapter? What context is he using it in? It just surprises me that a man of science, particularly, Hawking would use that word...

"One can imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang" p. 9, Ch. 1

I decided not to put this in R&S, in fear of being swarmed by religious fanatics over this

Rev. Einstein, did you ever consider for a second, that I might happen to be religious myself? And that I only asked this question, just to get the Scientific world's perspective for once. I figure they should have a say, too.

Answer 1

Einstein believed in God, but not the manifestation of God Jews believed (he didn't think God was meddling in our lives). Many scientists hold deep religious beliefs. Some feel that the balance of the universe is too delicate to be a matter of chance. If the Earth were a hare closer to the Sun, life here would be different. If the Cosmological constant during the inflation after the Big Bang of the universe wasn't exactly what is was, the Universe would have collapsed back on itself. It the pH in your blood is not the ideal 7.4, which is regulated by complex blood chemistry at just the right amount, then you couldn't use oxygen from the air to survive. This delicate balance, and the other intricacies of life, convince many that there is a Creator....Many have been trying to replicate the primordial soup of life as it existed on early Earth, but no one has made life from nothing. But scientists should always have an open mind, otherwise, they would already know all the answers and there would be no reason to pursue them.....

Answer 2

The statement you quote is not a declaration, or even a suggestion that God did indeed create the universe. It is a simple statement of fact; one *can* imagine anything one wishes.

A better example is his quote (referring to some future theory of everything), "If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God. " This can be interpreted either as his personal belief, or as a metaphor. Einstein would often speak in such an (intentionally, I think) ambiguous manner.

Referring to God in such close association with the laws of physics is often referred to as "Deism", in which God is, more or less, equated to or, at least, identified with the laws of nature.

Answer 3

When people - particularly scientists and religious people - talk of "God", they are typically referring to 2 very different concepts.
Most religious people think of a "personal god" - a god who exhibits the characterisitics and emotions of a human, and who gets involved in individual's lives.
When scientists refer to god, they are typically referring to a god who is more like "the Force" in the Star Wars movies - an immanent energy that has no emotional characterisitics, and acts more like the laws that govern the universe. The god of the scientists is that energy capable of creating that which we think to "exist". It is interesting to note that many - in fact, most - of the famous scientists of this century did believe in some kind of "god" or creative intelligence, but often they concealed their views for the same reason you posted this question here, and not in R&S. Notable scientists who fit the bill are Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Paul Davies, to name a few.

Answer 4

These are some quotes from Einstein that expresses his view on god, and I can safely say this is the view of most scientists if they believe in a god:
"I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."

"I am convinced that a vivid consciousness of the primary importance of moral principles for the betterment and ennoblement of life does not need the idea of a law-giver, especially a law-giver who works on the basis of reward and punishment."

In response to people who claimed he believed in a god the way Christians/Jews/Muslims do:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

Answer 5

I think that's why he put the word "imagine" in the sentence. I also think that scientists often loosely use the word "God" to stand for, "some unspecified causal agent with unspecified powers." That's a useful concept when you're using your imagination; just as long as you distinguish between what you're imagining and what you're asserting scientifically.

Answer 6

It might shock you that many hard-core scientists believe in God. Religion and science aren't mutually exclusive.
(I'm an agnostic atheist, by the way, but I've read articles about this strange phenomenon.)

The director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis S. Collins, is one of the most well-known modern examples. Here's an column in which he discusses his views:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html

Answer 7

He is refering to the fact that everything big bang forward can be understood. The moment of the bang he gives credit to the universal "god"

Answer 8

You think God is a curse word in science? It may suprise you to know that it is the inevitable conclusion to the most intelligent Scientists on earth>

"The scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation...His religious feeling takes the form of rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals the intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. - Albert Einstein (theoretical physicist)

"I am fascinated by some strange developments going on in astronomy....The astronomical evidence leads to a Biblical view of the origin of the world". -- Robert Jastrow (Astomomer) and former Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies

“The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I
find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” - Freeman Dyson (physicist)

“The exquisite order displayed by our scientific understanding of the physical world calls
for the divine.” - Vera Kistiakowsky (physicist)

"For the scientist who has lived his dream by faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries." - Robert Jastrow (astronomer and physicist)

".... It would be perfectly consistent with all we know to say that there was a Being who was responsible for the laws of physics". Stephen Hawking....American Scientist, 73, (1985).

Answer 9

Belief in a god is based on faith, not science. However, belief in a god need not be inconsistent with science if such belief includes belief that a god would work through physical laws...like the laws of physics or chemistry.

In which case, understanding the laws of nature is the same thing as understanding the laws of god and of god herself. Nearer my god to thee...through science.

Answer 10

"One can imagine". The key word here being imagine.