God, the Universe and Everything Else is a good documentary interview from the 80s – watch it if you can.
Back then Stephen Hawking and others tried to integrate their beliefs with their science, though as with many of us who are interested in the meaning of life, the idea of god was adapted to more modern philosophies, such as “god is everything”, rather than “god is an old, bearded man in the clouds”. But now Hawking has recognised that the term god is so weighted with prejudice that it is a dysfunctional concept for humanity as well as science.
We must still recognise the spiritual dimension and learn to integrate our physical and intellectual selves with the cosmic rhythm. Hawking has now faced the reality that this is not achievable with out current conceptions of god. He may also regret the costs of religious violence from war to terrorism, from child abuse to false doctrine.
In his new book, an extract of which appears here in the Times, Britain’s most famous physicist contests Sir Isaac Newton’s belief that the universe must have been designed by God as it could not have sprung out of chaos. Hawking says that there is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe.
Times extract (subscription required)
BBC Stephen Hawking: God did not create Universe
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