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Hawking’s Attack on God Draws Logical Response
www.MagisReasonFaith.org
Saturday, September 04, 2010
The battle lines have been drawn on what promises to be the grand debate over Grand Design – Stephen Hawking’s latest work. In his book, Hawking directly fires at a cornerstone of faith — the need for a Creator of the universe. Sensitivity to this issue has brought responses from scientists, philosophers and religious leaders. One prominent philosopher and author has expressed skepticism about Dr. Hawking’s skepticism.
Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith, immediate past president of Gonzaga University and author of the recently published New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy has responded to Hawking with a 7-minute Youtube video which can be seen here.
He also developed a written response entitled “The Curious Metaphysics of Dr. Stephen Hawking”-- the full text of which can be found at magisreasonfaith.org, or by clicking here.
“Though Dr. Hawking is an outstanding physicist, his metaphysical skills are less than honed,” commented Spitzer, who himself holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and three masters degrees. When he was President of Gonzaga University, Spitzer started the Institute on Faith and Reason to make known newly discovered evidence of a beginning of the universe from physics and philosophy.
As a specialist in the area of metaphysics, Spitzer noted, “Hawking’s book reveals his implicit belief in a beginning or creation when he makes his major focus the explanation for how the universe could have created itself from nothing. Unfortunately, his attempt to do this causes him to attribute existence (not nothingness) to certain physical realities (such as the law of gravity) when the universe was supposedly nothing -- an obvious contradiction.”
Spitzer is currently producing a documentary on God and Modern Physics which is scheduled for completion in November. It features eight esteemed physicists including: Nobel Laureate, Dr. Arno Penzias (who discovered the background radiation from the Big Bang), as well as Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne (Cambridge), Dr. Lisa Randall (Harvard), Dr. Owen Gingerich (Harvard), Dr. Jennifer Wiseman (NASA), Rev. Dr. Michael Heller (Vatican Observatory), and Dr. Stephen Barr (University of Delaware). Information about this documentary, including fact sheets, podcasts and Facebook discussions on the evidence of creation can be found at magisreasonfaith.org.
About Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.
Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. is the President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith which is dedicated to showing the close connection between faith and reason in contemporary astrophysics and philosophy.
He is the author of New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy, as well as five other noteworthy titles, and many scholarly articles in International Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy in Science, and the Journal of Ultimate Reality and Meaning.
From 1998 through 2009, Spitzer was the President of Gonzaga University. He started seven academic centers, and is involved in a variety of different educational, philosophical, and scientific organizations, including the Spitzer Center for Ethical Leadership. He is a frequent lecturer, speaking to national and international audiences. He has also produced six television series for EWTN.
Spitzer holds four advanced degrees: Ph.D. Philosophy, Catholic University of America, (Dissertation: A Study of Objectively Real Time); Th.M., Weston School (Cambridge); M.Div. Gregorian University (Rome); M.A., St. Louis University, Philosophy; B.B.A. Gonzaga University, Public Accounting and Finance