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Meyer: When Stephen Hawking Spoke “From Beyond the Grave”

David Klinghoffer
Photo: Stephen Meyer, via En Arche Foundation.

Stephen Meyer’s new book, Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe, is not only of scientific and theological but emotional interest. One of its themes is an engagement with the ideas of physicist Stephen Hawking. In turn, what makes Hawking so fascinating is the poignancy of his life: the heroic, uncomplaining years under the power of a crippling disease, and the increasingly frank avowal that the God Hypothesis was unneeded to explain the cosmos. As Meyer recounts, Hawking came to be seen as in a league with the New Atheists. He also grew apocalyptic in his forecasts about humanity’s future. It’s not hard to imagine the psychological portrait that future science historians will draw.

After Hawking died, a posthumous book was released, Brief Answers to the Big Questions. As Meyer says, it was as if the great man “spoke from beyond the grave,” confirming directly his view that quantum gravity could substitute for the work of a creator. Yet he failed to see that his own work showed otherwise, which may be the saddest thing of all. Meyer comments:

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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Brief Answers to the Big QuestionscreatorNew Atheistsphysicistspsychologyquantum gravityReturn of the God HypothesisStephen Hawkingtheology