Hawking, Dawkins pudding and pie...

Hawking, Dawkins pudding and pie...
kissed the girls and made them cry...

As my grandchildren would say “Grandpa, you are being silly”. Well yes, but then so are Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins. But there is no need to cry at their dismissal of God. Their arguments are in fact easily overturned by an informed and intelligent faith that is not overawed by the success of these men in other areas. I would not go to a brain surgeon to get him to deal with my obsessive compulsive disorder. Though perhaps a full frontal lobotomy would fix the problem! Why those who are undoubtedly brilliant in one field think they have the wherewithal to pontificate about God is a tad beyond me. Actually having spent my entire working career in academic circles I do have a clue. You see academia is not entirely devoid of arrogance!

Stephen and Richard have this in common with the Christian, they are men of faith. Their faith is not the Christian faith, but it is faith. Stephen in a recent book “the grand design” claims that is it the laws of physics, not the will of God, that provides the real explanation as to how life on earth came into being. But Stephen where do the laws of Physics come from, and why should there be any laws at all? If it all came about by chance would we not expect chaos rather than the order we see?

As a Christian the more I learn about Science the more I marvel at the intricacy and the complexity of design. I see God, Richard and Stephen see nothing. “In the beginning nothing created everything that is out of nothing”. And they call me naive! What evidence do they have for this view? In an interview Richard had to admit that he had none. So on what basis does he make these “Evangelical” statements about the non-existence of God? They are in fact statements of belief, they are held by faith. It is faith in “not God” (see “The faith of the atheist” and other posts from June/July 2010).

So where do such faith views in ”not God” come from? It is not correct to attribute them all to arrogance. I am convinced that many of these views come from profound disappointment with God (well He can't be manipulated or bullied into giving us all our own way), or with those who claim to believe in Him but don't live as though they do, and/or from hypocrisy (or worse) in the Church. It is easy to be poisoned against God and religion by these things. But if we are, are we not in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water? While it is true that a great many, perhaps even the vast majority, of atrocities have been committed in the name of God and of religion, this is not the whole picture. Very few things in life are completely neutral. When we split the atom, we could have used it to make bombs or provide electric power. Similarly religion has the potential for good or evil. Who would say that supplying clean water in developing countries was evil, or that the justice and equity commanded in the Bible was wrong? Many good things have come from Biblical principles. We are commanded to bring justice to the oppressed, and to feed the hungry. I am told that the vast majority of charitable donations in this country come from Christians.

If we are going to be “scientific” (logical/systematic) about our investigation into God and religion, then we should investigate the best expressions of them, that can be found. If I want to see if Islam is true, I would not look to Osama Bin Laden's views. Many prominent scientist and astronomers are or were, devout Christians. Einstein certainly believed in God, as did Newton. It was his Christian faith and compassion that motivated William Wilberforce in his life long battle in the English parliament for the abolition of slavery. We see what we want to see. In creation I see God. But not just in creation. He is active in a very positive way in my life. Even those friends who are antagonistic to my faith, will admit that Christianity has been good for me. Indeed it has, I would quite literally not be here if it were not for my relationship with God. I would not have made it without Him, let alone have the peace and love and joy I have found in Him.