Yu Qiming: From Einstein's Private Candor to Hawking's Public Denial | Marxism Research Network

Due to historical reasons, Albert Einstein’s views on religion have at times appeared like "looking at flowers through a fog" ^[1]—expressions that seem ambiguous or even contradictory—and have thus sparked much debate across various sectors. However, in a handwritten German letter on January 3, 1954, replying to the fellow Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind, Einstein spoke quite bluntly when discussing religion in private: "...The word 'God' is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish." The phrasing here is extremely frank and straightforward, marking a departure from his usual manner. Yet, this rare and precious letter remained unknown to the outside world for a long time. It was not until May 17, 2008, when the letter was publicly auctioned in London, that it garnered global attention.

What is thought-provoking is that sixty-four years later, Stephen Hawking—acclaimed as the "contemporary Einstein"—publicly negated "God" in his book The Grand Design, officially published on September 9, 2010. The book was co-authored by Hawking and the physicist Leonard Mlodinow. In it, they state that physics can provide an explanation without the need for a "benevolent creator who made the universe for us," arguing that "because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing." They assert that "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to... set the universe in motion." Hawking emphasized this understanding in various remarks around that time. In a June 2010 television interview, he pointed out, "God may be a personification of the laws of nature... but to personify it is entirely wrong." He continued, "Religion is based on authority, whereas science is based on observation and reasoning. Science will win because it works." On September 10, 2010, speaking on CNN’s "Larry King Live," he discussed how "God may exist, but science can explain why the universe does not need a creator," noting that "gravity and quantum theory caused the universe to be created spontaneously out of nothing." He concluded, "Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion. The scientific account is complete. Theology is unnecessary." (Cited from a report in the Hong Kong Sing Tao Daily, September 13, 2010).

Now that Hawking expresses his views on "God" so clearly and explicitly, it is no wonder that the famous atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins remarked with appreciation: "Darwinism kicked God out of biology... [in physics] Hawking has now administered the coup de grâce."

The life of theoretical cosmologist Stephen Hawking is highly "legendary." He was born on January 8, 1942, a date that coincided with the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death and the 300th anniversary of Newton’s birth. Of course, this much-discussed coincidence is nothing more than pure accident.

At age 21, Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. This disease is known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in the United States and Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in the UK. According to estimates by the ALS Association, those afflicted with the disease typically live only two to five years. Now, forty-eight years have passed, and Hawking continues to successfully battle the illness that left his entire body paralyzed—in his words, he has "adapted quite well to his condition"—even though he is confined to a wheelchair and must rely on a computer for writing and a speech synthesizer for talking. It was under these difficult conditions that he achieved the academic world’s most outstanding accomplishments to date in the fields of cosmology and general relativity. In 1974, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society; in 1988, he won the Wolf Prize in Physics; and in 1989, he was made a Companion of Honour of the British Empire. Currently, he still holds the prestigious Lucasian Professorship at Cambridge University, a chair once held by Newton and Dirac.

Hawking is also a popular science writer. His representative work, A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, has reached a cumulative circulation of 25 million copies and has been translated into nearly 40 languages. He even enthusiastically played himself in the science fiction series Star Trek, playing bridge with Newton and Einstein. He has been married twice and has three children.

III

Precisely because Hawking is a scientist with immense social influence, his views on religion have naturally attracted particular attention from both academic and religious circles. Although he is not a religious believer, there has been no shortage of commentary attempting to use him as a figurehead for "belief in God." These voices insist that Hawking "raised the religious implications of scientific theory," that his concept of time "clearly possesses a profound religious connotation," and that his words "shatter the myth that science and theology are irrelevant to one another." Their evidence consists of the following lines Hawking wrote in A Brief History of Time: "Where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it have an end, and if so, how will it end?" and "However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we would know the mind of God." (A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking, trans. Xu Mingxian and Wu Zhongchao, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 1996 edition).

Should Hawking's words really be interpreted in that way? The answer is naturally no. Although Hawking appeared cautious and gentle in expressing his "view of God" to "be understandable by everyone," often weighing his words carefully, his true intent is not difficult to grasp for anyone who reads his comprehensive discussions without prejudice or intentional distortion.

In 1981, Hawking attended a cosmology conference organized by the Jesuits at the Vatican. He wrote: "The Catholic Church had made a bad mistake with Galileo when it tried to lay down the law on a question of science, declaring that the sun went round the earth. Now, several centuries later, it had decided to invite a number of experts to advise it on cosmology. At the end of the conference the participants were granted an audience with the Pope. He told us that it was quite all right to study the evolution of the universe after the big bang, but we should not inquire into the big bang itself because that was the moment of Creation and therefore the work of God. I was glad then that he did not know the subject of the talk I had just given at the conference—the possibility that space-time was finite but had no boundary, which means that it had no beginning, no moment of Creation. I had no desire to share the fate of Galileo, with whom I feel a strong sense of identity, partly because of the coincidence of having been born exactly three hundred years after his death!" Here, Hawking’s meaning is very clear: he disagreed with Pope John Paul II’s preaching regarding divine creation. He even felt fortunate the Pope did not know of his lecture on the "lack of a moment of creation" and joked about "not wanting to share Galileo’s fate." Interestingly, during the audience with the delegates, the Pope even "condescended" to kneel down so as to speak "on equal terms" with Hawking in his wheelchair.

Hawking invited the famous atheist Carl Sagan to write the "Introduction" to A Brief History of Time. Sagan's understanding of Hawking’s thought was apt: "This is also a book about God… or perhaps about the absence of God. The word God fills these pages. Hawking embarks on a quest to answer Einstein’s famous question about whether God had any choice in creating the universe. Hawking is attempting, as he explicitly states, to understand the mind of God. And this makes all the more unexpected the conclusion of the effort, at least so far: a universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do." What is the "mind of God"? Hawking’s answer is: "God may be a personification of the laws of nature."

Hawking’s "view of God" is closely linked to his objective and profound reflections on the philosophical world-view. In the first chapter of A Brief History of Time, he conducts a serious examination and evaluation of figures from Aristotle to Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Kant, and into the modern era. At the end of the book, he laments: "In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: Did the universe have a beginning? However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, 'The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.' What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!" (A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking, trans. Xu Mingxian and Wu Zhongchao, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 1996 edition). Leaving aside other matters, it is not difficult to see from this the inclination toward spontaneous materialism ^[2] in Hawking’s thought.

Hawking was born into a typical British middle-class family; both of his parents were graduates of Oxford University. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a homemaker. In his early childhood, Hawking loved toy trains and boats, often curiously taking them apart to figure out how they worked. As a teenager, he built his own models and designed games. Years later, he recalled that these activities stemmed from his desire to investigate things and to control them. He noted that this craving was only satisfied through his research into cosmology after he began his doctoral studies. At the age of fourteen, Hawking began to show a talent for mathematics; though he did not spend much time on it, he achieved excellent results. His father hoped he would study medicine, but Hawking was not fond of biology, feeling that the discipline was too descriptive, insufficiently abstract, and not fundamental enough. At age seventeen, he entered University College, Oxford. Because there was no mathematics major, Hawking chose physics. At the time, while the study of elementary particles in the microscopic realm had yielded many new discoveries, it lacked an adequate theory and did not hold much attraction for Hawking. By contrast, the study of the macroscopic realm already had Einstein’s general relativity, so he wanted to delve into cosmic physics. He felt that elementary particle physics was not as abstract as cosmology; the former was somewhat like biology, where scientists could do little more than categorize various particles as one would in botany. However, no one at Oxford was researching this field at the time. Thus, after graduating from Oxford, Hawking went to Cambridge University for graduate study, where Professor Fred Hoyle was the most outstanding British cosmologist of that era. From then on, Hawking devoted himself to the study and research of cosmology with great longing and passion.

When he was twelve years old, one of Hawking’s childhood friends became a Christian. This had an impact on Hawking and his other playmates, making them interested in religion. They gathered together to discuss faith and the understanding of God, attempting to understand and explore the mysteries of life and the world. This interest lasted for over half a year. For a time, Hawking read the Bible thoroughly, and by the time he finished the third grade, he even received a theology prize awarded by his school. However, Hawking never fell into fanatical religious belief, demonstrating the rational spirit within his own thought.

Later, a wave of "extra-sensory perception" (ESP) swept through society, becoming a hot topic that captured public attention. This led Hawking and his peers to become fascinated by ESP as well. They huddled in small rooms conducting numerous experiments, attempting to use "psionic power" ^[3] to control the roll of dice. For a time, Hawking even believed that the foundations of ESP were more rational than those of Christianity, ambitiously hoping to prove the existence of "mind over matter." However, this interest did not last long. After attending a lecture on experimental research into ESP, many doubts arose in his mind. He observed that when the speaker gave demonstrations to the audience, if the experiment followed scientific procedures and methods, the intended results could not be obtained; conversely, if an experiment yielded the desired results, the design of the experiment itself was invariably flawed. Hawking's interest in ESP gradually transformed into contempt. He realized that so-called "extra-sensory perception" was farcical and that believing in such things only demonstrated a lack of analytical capacity. It is evident that from his youth, Hawking possessed a preliminary understanding of and a certain immunity to supernatural phenomena. This provided a favorable starting point for his subsequent scientific research and the formation of a correct worldview. He would no longer believe in any form of mysticism or metaphysics. For instance, Hawking remained unimpressed by those who attempted to build bridges between mysticism and modern physics, or those who claimed similarities between Eastern religions and quantum mechanics or chaos theory. He stated: "People are fascinated by Eastern mysticism because they haven't heard of it before and it feels novel, but as a true description of reality, it is worthless. If you look through Eastern mysticism, you will find things that seem like hints of modern physics or cosmology, but in reality, they are meaningless." (Quoted from Zhang Youyi, Hawking: The Thinker Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe, Anhui People's Publishing House, 2001 edition, p. 123.)

While Hawking was not a religious believer, he was relatively cautious and mild when expressing his "view of God." This was closely related to his wife, Jane Wilde. When Hawking entered Cambridge University, his condition gradually worsened. After being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) the following year, he went through a period of extreme pessimism and even despair. It was during this time that he had the good fortune to meet Jane. Her youthful vigor, vitality, passion, and optimism deeply attracted him. She also took a liking to Hawking's witty conversation and his stubborn, eccentric character, feeling great sympathy for his unfortunate illness. They met frequently, and their relationship continued to develop. Jane’s presence enabled Hawking to break free from his feelings of despair and rediscover the joy and meaning of life, allowing him to continue his studies with confidence, however difficult they might be. Jane's entry into Hawking's life was a turning point in his journey; they shared hardships and joys together, remaining companions for nearly thirty years of life's path.

From the beginning, Jane Wilde clearly understood that Hawking's illness carried great risks and unpredictable consequences; even if it could be treated, the condition could only be controlled to some extent, never fully cured. Nevertheless, she resolutely decided to link her fate with Hawking's. Some were deeply moved and admiring of this, while others simply could not understand it. Jane, however, went her own way ^[4]. She said: "I decided for myself what I wanted to do, and I did it. He was already ill when I first met him; I don't know what a physically sound Stephen would be like." Jane was born and raised in a Christian family, which fostered in her deep religious sentiments. She once remarked that without her devout faith in God, she would not have married Hawking, would not have possessed an optimistic spirit, and would have found it impossible to overcome the difficulties or live in such an environment. Hawking was extremely grateful to Jane. In the acknowledgments of A Brief History of Time, he wrote: "The help and support I have received from my wife Jane, and my children Robert, Lucy, and Timmy, have enabled me to lead a fairly normal life and have a successful career." (Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, translated by Xu Mingxian and Wu Zhongchao, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 1996 edition, p. 7.) Consequently, he showed exceptional respect for Jane's religious beliefs and emotions, refraining from using provocative language when discussing God. He hoped that through his efforts, he could gradually lead "everyone to understand" his views on religion, a group of "everyone" that naturally included Jane. Even after Hawking and Jane divorced in 1990, this did not change. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Hawking did not publicly declare himself an atheist and always downplayed the conflictual relationship between science and religion. However, to clarify the origin and evolution of the universe and understand the question of "why we and the universe exist," he had to engage in research with a scientific attitude. When science and God came into conflict, he could not actually reconcile them; he could only stand on the side of science.

From A Brief History of Time to The Grand Design, Hawking moved from a private internal negation of God to a public negation, indicating that his view of God had become more fully formed and confident ^[5]. From Einstein's private directness to Hawking's public negation, we see that the social influence of science is becoming deeper by the day, and the minds of eminent scientists are becoming increasingly attuned to the ideology of atheism.