Sunday 5 September 2010

False Dichotomy Prof. Hawking?

The famous Christian physicist and debater, Dr John Lennox had this to say about Prof. Stephen Hawking's recent ultimatum to the public about choosing between God and the laws of physics:

...as both a scientist and a Christian, I would say that Hawking's claim is misguided. He asks us to choose between God and the laws of physics, as if they were necessarily in mutual conflict.

But contrary to what Hawking claims, physical laws can never provide a complete explanation of the universe. Laws themselves do not create anything, they are merely a description of what happens under certain conditions.

What Hawking appears to have done is to confuse law with agency. His call on us to choose between God and physics is a bit like someone demanding that we choose between aeronautical engineer Sir Frank Whittle and the laws of physics to explain the jet engine.


Full article here.

2 comments:

Andrew Whitcombe said...

thanks for posting that Richard, I really like John Lennox, and I'd have missed that article if you hadn't bothered sticking a link here.

Richard Walker said...

Pleasure. My dad pointed the article out to me.