Creation Errors John Lennox Attributes to Stephen Hawking

On 12 March 2013 John Lennox gave the Vice Chancellor’s Open Lecture at the University of Cape Town on the topic of “A Matter of Gravity: God, the Universe and Stephen Hawking”.

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Pastor Dr. John Lennox, a Christian apologist and retired mathematics professor at the University of Oxford, has publicly debated and critiqued the views of Stephen Hawking, particularly concerning the relationship between science and God. While John Lennox is not a pastor by title, he is a devout Christian who frequently speaks in churches and at Christian conferences around the world, including Ireland.

Key Errors John Lennox Attributes to Stephen Hawking:

Here are some of the main critiques John Lennox has made regarding Stephen Hawking’s scientific and philosophical views, especially from Hawking's book The Grand Design:

1. Misuse of the Laws of Physics to Exclude God

Stephen Hawking’s claim: “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.”

Lennox’s critique: This is logically incoherent. Lennox points out that if the universe creates itself, it would have to exist before it existed, which is a contradiction. Also, laws like gravity don’t create anything—they describe what happens under certain conditions. Gravity can’t cause creation unless there is something already in existence.

2. Category Error: Confusing Scientific Explanation with Agency

Hawking’s argument: Science has explained the origin of the universe, so we don't need God.

Lennox’s response: Explaining how something works doesn’t disprove the agent who designed it. For example, understanding the laws of combustion doesn’t prove there was no one who designed and built a car engine.

3. Conflating “Nothing” with Something

Hawking's "nothing" is often a quantum vacuum, which is still something—not true philosophical nothingness.

Lennox points out that “nothing” means the absence of anything—no laws, no energy, no space, no time. Saying the universe came from "nothing" while redefining "nothing" is intellectually dishonest.

4. Science Alone Cannot Answer Ultimate Questions

Hawking suggested that philosophy is dead, and science now leads all knowledge.

Lennox argues this is self-refuting because the statement "philosophy is dead" is itself a philosophical claim—not a scientific one. Lennox insists that science and philosophy must work together, and science alone cannot determine meaning, morality, or purpose.

5. Denial of Objective Morality and Human Significance

Hawking’s atheistic worldview leads to nihilism, where humans have no ultimate meaning or value.

Lennox counters this with the Christian worldview, where humans are created in the image of God, have moral responsibility, and are more than random products of nature.

Conclusion:

Dr. John Lennox offers a strong, respectful critique of Stephen Hawking’s ideas, asserting that science does not eliminate the need for God, but rather points to a rational, intelligent Creator. Lennox defends the compatibility of faith and science, showing that many of the most brilliant scientists in history believed in God—including Newton, Kepler, and Faraday.

A Matter of Gravity: God, the Universe and Stephen Hawking – John Lennox (lecture)

Here’s an excellent lecture by Dr John Lennox (recorded March 12, 2013 in Cape Town) titled A Matter of Gravity, where he critiques Stephen Hawking’s arguments from The Grand Design. Lennox centers on Hawking’s claim that "because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing." He dismantles it by highlighting three main points:

🔍 Key Critiques Lennox Raises against Hawking

1. Gravity Doesn’t Create, It Describes

Lennox emphasizes that physical laws—like gravity—describe behavior; they don’t act as causal agents that can initiate creation. You can’t derive existence from the laws themselves.  

2. **Question-Begging: Universe Creating Itself?**

He argues Hawking's statement is circular—suggesting the universe created itself out of nothing. That “nothing” is not truly nothing but presupposes existing laws and conditions. He rightly calls this "Alice-in-Wonderland thinking."  

3. Category Error – Agency vs. Explanation

Lennox draws a clear distinction between how things happen (science) and why things exist (philosophical/theological groundings). Explaining mechanics (M‑theory, quantum vacuum) does not eliminate the need for an intelligent agent who initiates the cosmos.  

🎤 Where to Dive Deeper

In a March 2017 ID the Future interview, Lennox discusses his book God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway? He addresses Hawking's statement from The Grand Design, as well as Hawking’s dismissal of philosophy and endorsement of M-theory.  

A 2011 audio session (ID the Future Episode 503) expands on how you need both agency (God) and laws (science) to fully explain the universe—much like needing both Henry Ford and engineering to explain an automobile.  

📝 Summary

Dr Lennox’s critique asserts that Hawking’s view oversimplifies profound philosophical questions. He claims:

Scientific laws aren’t creators, merely descriptions.

Hawking’s “nothing” actually presupposes existence.

Science can describe the mechanisms but not the ultimate purpose or cause.

Philosophy and theology still have crucial roles in answering “why there is something rather than nothing.”

Judas Betrayed Jesus—and Also Betrayed Himself

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Judas Betrayed Jesus—and Also Betrayed Himself
(A Reflection with Scripture)

Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus Himself, is remembered as the one who betrayed the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–16). But in betraying Jesus, Judas also betrayed himself. He turned against his identity as a disciple, a follower, and a chosen vessel. He was called to walk with Christ, but he rejected that calling for a fleeting and false promise of power.

In many ways, Judas’s betrayal serves as a warning to us. When we forsake our identity in Christ—when we chase after the world, compromise our calling, or live in ways that contradict the Spirit—we, too, betray who we are in God. Scripture tells us, “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous” (1 John 3:7).

Judas was tempted by the devil. The Gospel of Luke tells us that “Satan entered Judas” before he went to the chief priests to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3–4). It seems that Judas may have hoped that his actions would force Jesus to display His power, to reveal Himself as the King of the Jews in a dramatic, public overthrow of Roman rule. But Jesus had not come to conquer political empires—He came to conquer sin and death. He came not as a Lion first, but as the Lamb of God: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Judas’s motives mirror the earlier temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, saying, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8–9). But Jesus refused. Judas, however, did not. In essence, Judas gave in to that same temptation—the desire for worldly power, authority, and recognition.

In doing so, Judas denied not only Christ, but his own spiritual inheritance. He exchanged a divine calling for a carnal ambition. He chose silver over salvation. The Bible warns us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

This is the tragedy of Judas. For a mere thirty pieces of silver—a paltry sum—he sold out the Savior, and he sold out his soul. He rejected his divine identity and purpose. Hebrews 12:16–17 speaks of Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal and later found no place for repentance. Judas made a similarly devastating trade.

We must be vigilant not to do the same. The Apostle James reminds us, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin” (James 1:14–15). When we compromise who we are in Christ to chase what the world offers—power, wealth, status—we risk losing our way entirely.

Jesus calls us to abide in His love and stay true to our calling: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

Let us not betray our true selves in Christ. We were created on purpose and for a purpose. As Ephesians 2:10 declares, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

When we step outside God’s will to pursue our own desires, we end up walking away from our destiny. Let us remain faithful, holding fast to the truth that our identity, inheritance, and future are found in Christ alone—not in the fleeting promises of the world.

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