Hawking: Universe Didn't Need God to Begin

The universe didn't need God to begin; it was quite capable of launching its existence on its own, thank you very much, says reknowned physicist Stephen Hawking. The universe began with the Big Bang, which simply followed the inevitable law of physics, the scientist writes. “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking explains in an excerpt from his new book, The Grand Design.

“It is not necessary to invoke God to set the universe going." In his famous 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking did not dismiss the possibility that God may have played some role in creation. But earlier this summer he said in an interview that he does not believe in a "personal" God, reports the Telegraph. "The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second," he explained. "If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God,' but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions." (More Stephen Hawking stories.)