Stephen Hawking spoke about theories on the Big Bang theory and religion this week at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
The lecture was called “The Origin of the Universe” and described his theories on how the universe came to be and whether God has a place in that.
“What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing hell for people who asked such questions?” Hawking said.
The famed cosmologist began the presentation with a an African creation myth and asked the audience, “Why are we here?”
Hawking reminded the attendees of Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold’s steady-state theory, which NBC News says is the idea that there is no beginning or end to the universe, meaning that galaxies form from spontaneously created matter.
Hawking believes this theory to be false, with the help of space telescopes and other instruments. He continues with the idea that singularity was the start of time and probably only happened once.
Hawking believes that since the universe is supposedly 13.8 billion years old, the number of galaxies makes sense, considering his other theories. He then went on to talk about a paper he wrote in the 1980s about when the universe was born, causing Pope John Paul II to criticize the scientific establishment for studying the moment of creation, because it is holy.
“I was glad not to be thrown into an inquisition,” Hawking said.
His final point was “M-theory,” a belief he shares with the late physicist Richard Feynman. M-theory proposes that a multitude of universes are formed out of non-exstence. Hawking says that each universe would have various pasts and states of existence, only some of which would include life.
To close, Hawking said he hoped for more exploration of the cosmos.
“We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” he said. “I don’t think we will survive another thousand years without escaping our fragile planet.”
The event was free but first-come-first-served. The line to get in extended about a quarter mile two hours before the event started, and a Jumbotron on the lawn provided extra accommodation for the massive crowd.
