On March 14, 2018, famed physicist and author Stephen Hawking died. Reflecting on his passing brings about some important and sobering thoughts.

One of the more famous quotes of Mr. Hawking is, “I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.” Consider a few things we can note from this statement.

Mr. Hawking said, “There is no God.” Though thought a brilliant genius by the world (no doubt he was intelligent in many ways), he was simply a fool. David declared, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Ps. 14:1). No matter how well educated, intelligent, or renowned one may be, when they say there is no God, they show what they really are – a fool in their folly. The Bible begins by stating that God is: “In the beginning God…” (Gen. 1:1). Thus, to deny God’s existence is to engage in foolishness.

Further, it is interesting that Mr. Hawking, who spent most of his life studying the creation, denied the Creator, saying, “No one created the universe…” Had he only opened his eyes, he would have seen that creation demands a Creator. In fact, creation cries out the reality and glory of the One who created it. David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2). Real “knowledge” is to declare that which the universe reveals, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

Also, Mr. Hawking said, “This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life…” He was wrong, and now he knows it. Though one who denied God, heaven, and hell in his life, when he died on March 14, like the rich man, he found himself “in torments in Hades” (Lk. 16:23). Stephen Hawking is an atheist no longer! He does live on, but it is now too late to find the salvation of his soul. Further, come Judgment Day, he will (with all others), bow the knee and confess God. “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom. 14:11).

Mr. Hawking is also famously quoted as saying, “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special.” In truth, what makes us special is that we are not evolved from the monkey, but are God’s creation, made in His image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7). We are special because we have a soul that will go on after this life has ended (Eccl. 12:7). We are special because God loves us and sent His only begotten Son to die for us that we might be able to have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). We are special because God, in His love, made us special to Him. It is sad that Stephen Hawking did not have the genius to understand what really made him special and to obey to the One who made him that way. Stephen Hawking’s soul has been lost, and that is a tragedy for it is a man’s invaluable possession (Matt. 16:26).

You and I need be careful to not go down the same road: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).

David Eldridge