Jet Grind

Stephen Hawking is definitely not a Christian, as he speaks of God in a non-anthrophomorphic context. It is my opinion that he is a deist of some sort. In case anyone remembers the first edition of "A Breif History of Time" Carl Sagan wrote an introduction where at the end he wrote "We have a universe with no beginning, no end, and nothing for a creator to do". Hawking had this removed from the later edition of the book saying that is not what he concluded at all.

One of his associates (I can't remember who) said he was really an atheist, but he thought every mention of God would double the sales of his books. So it's possible that he's really just trying to avoid the notoriety of being an atheist.

Bumble Bee Tuna

OK, if I were to accept the argument from Intelligence Authority...

Religious belief is negatively correlated with education level. Smarter people temd to not believe in God. Therefore, from their intelligent authority, we should not believe in God. Wow, that was easy.

-B

Sabine Grant

Bonsoir ! I do not know how one can evaluate that SH is the smartest man on the face of the planet... as a public figure, he benefits of the reputation of being a man with extreme intelligence.
In any case... is your argument to support that intelligence is a necessity to experience religious faith? Since you bring up Christianity, it appears that Christ does not teach that intelligence is the reason for faith....a child like mind instead.

Sabine Grant

Again... intelligence is not a requirement from Christ's teachings to experience religious faith. So either arguments have no value IMO.

Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ

Argument from inverse authority:

The dumbest people in the world believe in God (the Shrub comes to mind). Why the hell should we believe what an idiot believes so fervently without proof?

Bumble Bee Tuna

Wow, Sabine, it's like your on a "not understanding a word Bumble Bee Tuna says" roll here. Congratulations.

-B

Sabine Grant

What I understand is that a debate is being held here on the assumption that intelligence is a requirement from Christ to have faith. So I am clarifying Christ's words on the matter. It appears to me that the best argument against the OP is to refer to how Christ defines faith ...... so nobody is wasting any time anylonger. By the way... it is possible you are barking at the wrong tree.

MOONER : so....are you pondering by now whether or not your OP can be used as an argument pro faith?

JCS

What if he believes tripe tastes good, should I believe that too?

philechat

There are a lot of intelligent people who held on to strange superstitions, including, but not limited to, Newton, Tesla, and Bohr. Should we really believe Bohr and start hanging horseshoe crabs on our front doors to ward off misfortune? Or should we run away from anyone who happened to wear pearl necklaces, as Tesla did?

alek0

Of course child like mind is needed for faith... Children believe in Santa Claus, tooth fairy etc., so it shouldn't be difficult for them to believe in christian god.

As for original post, I'm curious to see the proof that Hawking is a christian. Though even if he was, it wouldn't matter for reasons already stated by others.