I don’t believe in fairies Professor Hawking
Peter Gray-Read, BSc MSc PGCE
member of Gorleston Baptist Church
Scientists are human – with three science degrees I can say I was trained as a scientist and while not putting myself on a level with the professor I know we all come with our own ‘world view’ which determines how we fit what seem to be facts into our perception of reality. And as much as I love maths and the elegance of the relationships it uncovers, there is still the question – who put the fire into the equations – or why is it all here anyway? As professor Hawking acknowledges physics needs biology to explore the potential for life, but again his reference to natural selection presumes there is ‘life’ to select from, and there is nothing to bridge the great gulf between inanimate matter and the amazing molecular biology of the ‘simplest’ independent living cell. Nothing other than the input of a creator
Yes the mind is awesome in its capability for analysis, language, creativity, imagination yet why do some people choose to use this potential for evil and some for good. In a non-medical sense the ‘heart’ has something to do with the direction of the mind. Jeremiah said ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Yet it is with the heart that we love and the first commandment to give direction and purpose to our lives is that we bestow that highest emotion on God and secondly on our neighbour and ourselves
Surely the professors’ abstraction of a person as a computer is superficial in an important sense. People in care homes may not have the fastest processors – an upgrade may be too expensive, but they are still people to be respected not just because they have a legal status. I believe our value as people comes from the truth of Genesis chapter one verses 26 and 27 …
And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over …
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them
If God places such value on us can we do less? As a teacher and lifelong learner I hold scholarship and its practitioners in high esteem. But the Bible says…
The fool says in his heart “There is no God”
Taking a group of students around St John’s College recently I was struck by the fact that so many of the old and many new colleges in our two greatest Universities are centred around the Chapel – often of great beauty - and the worship of God. Evidently if you put God first he will put you first
I have taught A-level maths and chemistry but I would love to understand quantum mechanics and all its cousins and relations in whatever dimension they are. Will they find the ‘God’ particle? Well in Him we live and move and have our being, He has revealed himself to us and loved us so much that He was willing to be sacrificed for us that we could know Him and be with Him forever. I don’t need quantum physics or the LHC to find God. People search for him in different ways because as it is written ‘Man shall not live by bread alone…’ we all need God because we are made for relationship with Him. The story of this relationship is wrapped up in a traditional black leather binding and the most celebrated translation has its 400th anniversary this year – the King James version. It starts at the beginning and finishes at the end – now that needed saying! Of course in the original Jewish scriptures you have to start at the place we normally end. Israel was the cradle of God’s revelation to man, world events would lead many to predict the final battle will take place there. Indeed if the UN passes a resolution to recognise the territories gained since 1967 as a new Palestinian state and thereby divide the land and Jerusalem we may well see the beginning of the end, but thanks be to God that when we come to our end there is a whole new beginning. It’s still open to Professor Hawking if he can see that light in Jesus | 