He was a groundbreaking theoretical physicist, and his brilliant thoughts on God and the afterlife attracted the interest of many others. In various conversations and publications, he spoke about the presence of a greater power and the possibility of an afterlife.

When asked if he believed in God, Hawking responded unequivocally. He believed that there was no evidence of a higher power and that scientific rules could explain the cosmos.

“Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe,” he stated in an interview with the Spanish daily El Mundo. But science now offers a more convincing answer.

Hawking did not confine his religious beliefs to a single faith. He asserted that the foundation of all religions rested on the same principles of faith and offered no factual evidence. He’s an atheist.

Hawking expounded on his ideas regarding the universe’s beginnings in his book “The Grand Design,” which he co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow. He argued that physical laws, not a heavenly creator, formed the cosmos.

“Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing,” he said in an essay. “There is something rather than nothing; the universe exists, and we exist because of spontaneous creation.”

Science also supported Hawking’s beliefs about the afterlife. He viewed the concept of a hereafter as mere wishful thinking. He expressed this view in his final book, “Brief Answers to the Big Questions.”

“No one created the universe or controlled our destiny.” This takes me to a surprising realization: there is likely no heaven or afterlife. I think that believing in a hereafter is wishful thinking. There is no reliable proof, and it contradicts everything we understand about science.

However, Hawking does not reject other people’s views in order to impose his own. “We are all free to believe whatever we want, and in my opinion, the simplest explanation is that there is no God,” he told me.

His work as a mathematician and his quest to understand the universe through physical logic influenced Stephen Hawking’s views on God and religion. Despite his differing opinions, science will recognize and appreciate his contributions for many years.