Stephen Hawking’s brain is trapped in a body that can do little more than sit, and even with this he needs assistance. At 68, he has not slowed down even though he is almost completely paralyzed due to “a neuro-muscular dystrophy,” a degenerative neurological disease that is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease). His condition has worsened over the years. Even so, the theoretical physicist has not stopped working and thinking. He is a prolific author. His best seller A Brief History of Time stayed on the British Sunday Times bestseller list for 237 weeks.
His latest theoretical venture is the claim that the cosmos is alive with life. He will attempt to make his case in a new documentary series for the Discovery Channel beginning Sunday, May 9th.[1]
I find this all very interesting. With no real empirical data, Hawking and other scientists are adamant that alien life, some of it far superior than our own, exists among the innumerable galaxies, but they are not willing to believe that God exists. Lord (Martin) Rees, the Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, warned that aliens might prove to be beyond human understanding. “I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive,” Rees said. “Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains.” It’s OK for scientists to postulate that unseen aliens may be beyond our understanding, but don’t ever let a scientist suggest that that a God who is beyond our understanding might exist. That wouldn’t be scientific! Long before Lord Rees postulated such a theory, the Bible describes God as far superior to us in a way that mocks know-it-all scientists:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).
To believe what Lord Rees believes is science, but to suggest that there is a God who is beyond our understanding and has made Himself known to us is superstition.
We’re told that Hawking’s “logic” leads him to believe in a cosmos filled with aliens that sprung from nothing, but he and his less than superior scientists (given that alien life forms are probably more superior than us as they maintain) cannot logically formulate the belief that a Superior Being put life on this planet. They’re willing to believe that nothing gave rise to something, but they cannot conceive that God gave rise to everything.
Hawking’s logic about alien life forms takes him in another direction, and it worries him. Maybe some of these unknown aliens could pose a threat:
Hawking believes that contact with such a species could be devastating for humanity. He suggests that aliens might simply raid Earth for its resources and then move on: “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”
It’s the worst parts of the TV series “V.” Philosopher Richard Rorty (1931–2007) provided a good thought-provoking moral experiment for naturalistic/materialistic theoreticians like Hawking and Rees. Rorty challenges atheists to offer a compelling satisfactory naturalistic answer to the following:
Aliens from another planet, with vastly superior intelligence to humans, land on earth in order to consume humans as food. What argument could you make to convince the aliens not to eat us that would not also apply to our consumption of beef?[2]
Rorty’s morality question was done with flair in episode 89 of The Twilight Zone, based on the story To Serve Man by Damon Knight that first appeared in the January 1953 issue of If magazine. A race of seemingly benevolent aliens known as Kanamits,[3] “a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time,” as Rod Serling described them, land on Earth and bring with them advanced technology with the promise of a utopian world. Initially wary of the intentions of such a highly advanced race, over time even the most skeptical humans are convinced of their good will. A book that one of the aliens leaves behind even carries the title To Serve Man. When the Kanamits share their advanced technology and quickly solve all of Earth’s greatest woes by eradicating hunger, disease, and the need for warfare, even more people are convinced that the Kanamits are alien benefactors. Earthlings sign up to visit the Kanamits’ home planet, which must be a paradise.
All is not well, however, when a code-breaker discovers the Kanamits’ true intentions: Their book, To Serve Man, is a cookbook, and all their gifts were designed to make humanity complacent, much like fattening pigs or cows before they are slaughtered. Here’s how host Serling concluded the episode:
“The recollections of one Michael Chambers, with appropriate flashbacks and soliloquy. Or more simply stated, the evolution of man, the cycle of going from dust to dessert, the metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet to an ingredient in someone’s soup. It’s tonight’s bill of fare from the Twilight Zone.”
Evolutionists are hungry for a close encounter of the third kind as they listen for signals from the distant reaches of space. But what if we make contact and find out that we are low on the alien food chain? Hollywood produces two types of alien encounter characters: Fuzzy and charming and downright vicious. Do the “extraterrestrials belong to the Spielberg school of cute’n’cuddly [E.T.], or the Tim Burton institute for the murderously deranged [Mars Attacks!]?”[4] But given the evolutionary dogma, does it really matter, and on what moral grounds could we cosmic Neanderthals object? Hawking can’t say, and that’s what worries him.
Endnotes:- Jonathan Leake, “Don’t talk to aliens, warns Stephen Hawking,” TimesOnline (April 25, 2010). [↩]
- Quoted by Richard Mankiw at http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2007/06/richard-rorty.html. [↩]
- Richard Kiel plays the head Kanamit. Kiel played the “Jaws” character in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). He reprised his “Jaws” character in the film Inspector Gadget (1999). In 2002, Kiel wrote his autobiography, Making it BIG in the Movies. He is often confused with Ted Cassidy (1932–1979), “Lurch” in The Addams Family, where he gets the short end of the stick in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when he declares that there are no rules in a knife fight. [↩]
- Anjana Ahuja, “What if the aliens decide they don’t like us?,” The Times (January 27, 2010). [↩]
Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandsons, Calvin and Paul. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA). 
Zero point energy eh? I have heard a lot about it including it's discovery by Nikolai Tesla. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say about it. 1freethinker in Montana
rustypaladin@yahoo.com
I find it most unfortunate that those who can be called religious fundamentalists invariably take an unsupportable view that science is in direct opposition to God’s methods. We define God as:
Omnipotent, or ALL Powerful and Unlimited
Omnipresent, or existing in all times and beyond time.
Omniscient, or ALL Knowing
There is nothing in any of these definitions that could possibly prohibit God from using Evolution as a means to accomplish his goals. Please don’t forget that to God time is without meaning.
There is nothing in our knowledge of God that would prevent Him from creating intelligent life on many other planets in this or any other of His galaxies.
When we have what is now appearing to be scientific proof of the existence of what for a better name we must still call a miracle in the image on the “Shroud of Turin” which it is now known has multiple images and can not be explained by any of our current knowledge. In this case science is proving the existence of God and His son Jesus.
Why do Christians deny the obvious? The Bible was written before we had calendars. In many cases time was measured in “growing seasons”, which have been translated into “years”.
I have read many scientific possibilities for scientific explanations of some of the biblical events. evidence has been found for situations described in the Bible which were denied because of Roman rule and operational procedures.
The Bible is a guide book to teach us how to reach God. It is not meant to limit us but to teach us to expand our minds to that end.
We must not allow science FICTION horror stories to be our limitations.
Nor must we allow Joel McDurmon’s anti TEA Party rant to become the norm. From what I have seen, most TEA Party activists have voted on principle. The problem is that they (we) have for almost 50 years now had to choose the least bad candidate. We have given the Socialists and Progressives and Democrats the power that they needed to take over from us. We have had our preachers promote voting for socialist schemes because they were “charitable”. We ignored the power that was being given to these socialists to control what we did not desire them to control. We have given the right to determine what is taught to our children to them through the NEA. We are giving to them the ability to refuse to provide police and fire protection by allowing international unions to control all police and fire fighters. We allow those who have proven to be working for themselves to be re-elected to public office. We elected a pro-abortion president because he promised to “change things” and make the whole of government “transparent”. Of all of the promises that he made “Transparency of government” has proven to be false. The rest have resulted in a massive Federal debt and the legislation to keep this debt growing.
He has put into law an insurance takeover plan that is in the process of destroying what was once the best health care system in the world.
Perhaps we have learned by now, perhaps not. The ONLY thing that Socialism and redistribute is POVERTY.
Will we ever learn to vote out the incumbent when we are ignored by them? The evidence is NO.
ChuckL:
While the few of God's attributes you mentioned say nothing about evolution, His Word certainly does. Genesis leaves no room for evolution, for evolution requires millions of years of ripping, rending, death and destruction (a.k.a. survival of the fittest / natural selection). And all this "very good"? Through one man, sin entered the world, and through sin, death. If evolution is true, then original sin is false. Nor original sin means nothing to be saved from. No need of salvation means no need of a saviour. Christianity collapses. Theistic evolution is a compromise with the world. Have a look athttp://www.creation.com for a look at the thousands of ways science supports the (literal 6 days) of creation and disproves evolution.
God is all the these things that you have mentioned
Omnipotent, or ALL Powerful and Unlimited
Omnipresent, or existing in all times and beyond time.
Omniscient, or ALL Knowing
God is all of the above
Zero point energy eh? I have heard a lot about it including it's discovery by Nikolai Tesla. I would be interested in hearing what you have to say about it. 1freethinker in Montana
rustypaladin@yahoo.com
Finished: True light will have us with using with choice of exception or not this dispensation of Greater Grace, Mercy, and Truth within a divine government that has staged an eternal calling for those who not only hear but do, with intrinsic value of redemption, regeneration re geneing given it's residue within all of what all is as light penetrates all.
As the true source of light returns to earth once more the new kingdom becomes established.
Thank God for Jesus Christ
If interested in Zero Point Energy and what it can do for you, contact me
More: This nourishment of thought, action, response provides an answer within our volition or will to allow the penetration of light to do the work within our life physically meaning anatomically that brings forth proper emotions that then allows wisdom to formulate this same spirit that made the way for us to know even what is just up ahead. Death is so important in this process as all of the chaotic disorder of the cosmos has within it's self this trembling of creation that is awaiting it's finished effect of order. The cruptive seed of man kind received the spors of elements of this creation from a refractive light or false light here on earth that has Incorporated within our self makeup and has legends of proteins or protons some called lagends or lagare but meaning many or legends. these Aliens are fessing and feeding within us all as false light.
We will all be at a point in the near future in the finish effects of the life of light. The light that has been given has already passed through all of creation as we know it, or better yet all of what we know within all of our understandings from height to depth even with our knowing that of what we do not know. This light given is a glance designed with it's message given with purpose of winning us into understanding a life style that takes us out of our self within the gravitational pull placed on us that weakens our natural systems of body mind soul and spirit. The creator of this light has provided within the light the answers with words given within the dispensation that can have us agree in the finish work message given to us in a very important period of time relative to history on this earth. The messenger walked with us and said drink all from this cup in remembrance of me.
Is anyone interested in an alternate vision of the creation of the Earth and the Moon that answers many of the "unknowns" and "impossibles" in the Big Whack Model? If any one is interested, please contact me at biederaj@yahoo.com
With such vain imaginations concerning things not seen, one would think that a little revelation would be welcome. I do not find it so amazing as some might, that Stephen Hawkins would be fearful of alien astronauts. Having rejected the reasonable conclusion that there is a benevolent, gracious and saving God, God that so loved the world, all that remains is fear and to run from ones own shadow.
I do respect Stephen Hawkins, but I do disagree with this theory. He has done some wonderful work in the world of Astrology, black holes, worms etc. This theory wraps around animals and human biology, which is not one of his expertist.
Has Hawkins recent influences includes The Church of Scientology? When you read thier beliefs it comes close to what he's stating or trying to prove.
P.S. I believe I come from God…..not aliens.
I also belive that as well I also believe I come from God…..not aliens.