My spouse is a self-declared atheist and, up until I read the TUB, I considered myself agnostic. I do not feel sorry for Steven Hawking; he doesn’t understand what he is missing, his perspective of what “God” is has been completely defined for him by cultural tradition, Biblical interpretations, and anthropomorphized concepts of Diety. I know – I was there just a few short years ago.
I refused to ever call myself an “athiest”, though, as I believed that doing so would be just as indicative of a closed mind as those who believe God wears white robes and a long white beard and lives in the clouds (and yes, I know people who believe that). Deep down, I always knew that there was a Power, a cosmic influence, that somehow to a greater or lesser degree was responsible for the universe and all the creatures in it. But I knew the Biblical version of God was too small, MUCH too small, and too emblematic of our own all-too-human foibles such as wrath and the need to be appeased by sacrifices and ‘good’ behavior. I knew that whatever created and continues to uphold this universe, and all the others, had to be so much more than that, something far beyond our ability to understand or even to conceive. But all my religious experience involved teachers who seemed to know everything about God, and their God was a being that fit neatly into a tiny box that held no mystery, no power, no real majesty, and as a result …… I decided that I did not believe in God, or at least, I didn’t know if I believed (or even cared).
Perhaps due to his extensive scientific training and scientific mind, Steven Hawking is unable to make the leap of faith that allows him to accept that there is so much that he cannot know about Deity while still in the mortal, finite mind. It makes sense to me that someone with the intelligence that he has, who is accustomed to being able to grasp very complex concepts easily, may not intuitively consider or accept that there remain many concepts in our universe that he *cannot* grasp.
And that it’s okay. It’s okay to believe in God without fully understanding what God is; only that we are God’s children and he loves each of us as unique individuals in the great cosmos of the vast universes. Even as I learned from TUB and knew right away that its revelations are true, I was reluctant to let go of my agnosticism. I had a certain pride about it, an intellectual image to uphold, and a need to fit in with my unbelieving peers.
Silly, I know. But there it is.
