Stephen Hawkings "God did not create the universe."

[Jimaz]

Why God Did Not Create the Universe
There is a sound scientific explanation for the making of our world—no gods required

[Detroitej72]

For the life of me, I will never understand why so many people think that God and science cannot mix.

[DetroitPole]

Reading that article about with the retort from the Brit religious folks, they all made fairly eloquent points except for the Muslim cleric. Sorry, that is one religion I'm never going to be down with. I'm a liberal but geez, what a shitty religion.

[maxx]

Reading that article about with the retort from the Brit religious folks, they all made fairly eloquent points except for the Muslim cleric. Sorry, that is one religion I'm never going to be down with. I'm a liberal but geez, what a shitty religion.

[The Archbishop of Canterbury] ... added: "Belief in God is not about plugging a gap in explaining how one thing relates to another within the Universe. It is the belief that there is an intelligent, living agent on whose activity everything ultimately depends for its existence."

M: But the point Hawking was making that there is no need for a creator/god. Matter/energy has everything it needs without any "divine" intervention. And there is no ultimate answer to why everything is here. Everyone must answer that question for him/herself. The stars and planets don't care.

Writing in the Times, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: "Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation ... The Bible simply isn't interested in how the Universe came into being."

M: No and a lot of the things the Bible is concerned about like whose god is superior, who are the chosen people, and how to treat those who don't worship the "superior " god have led to a lot of misery.

[Meddle]

For the life of me, I will never understand why so many people think that God and science cannot mix.

Isn't that called Scientology?

[Ravine]

For the life of me, I will never understand why so many people think that God and science cannot mix.

I'm with you on that, and I would add that one of the cross-ups is that folks from each "side" use their beliefs as a way of contradicting those of the other "side."
Hawking seems to be doing that, actually.
I'm curious about the book, and I may pick it up when it's published in trade paper size, but I can say that I read an excerpt in the Wall Street Journal, and whatever point was being driven at was largely incomprehensible to me; not because I couldn't follow the thoughts [[although, not being a physicist, I'm not automatically familiar with all of the references) so much as because, while much was written, no clear statement emerged.
Of course, it is worthwhile to keep in mind that being a genius of physics does not automatically bring wisdom or the ability to write effectively.
As for the God: Yes or No? aspect of it, I, as always, don't give a damn what anybody believes.