Scientists Close to Discovering Origin of Universe

Many mediocre movies have one great line. In fact, I wonder if many movies aren't made on the strength of one cool piece of dialogue.

The now-forgotten (exept by me) 80's movie Creator, with the venerable Peter O'Toole had a good one. O'Toole was a scientist seeking a means to resurrect his dead wife. He was commiserating with a fellow scientist and uttered this bon mot: "I tell you, Sid, that one of these days we'll look in to our microscope and find ourselves staring right into the eyes of God, and the first one who blinks is going to lose his testicles."

I couldn't help thinking of that line reading these two articles about renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. I hope Mr. Hawking is guarding the family jewels, as they say.


Stephen Hawking says humans close to finding answers to origin of universe

... and ...

- Stephen Hawking: John Paul Weighed in on Universe

Quote!

World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God.

Hawking, author of the best-seller "A Brief History of Time," said John Paul made the comments at a cosmology conference at the Vatican. He did not say when the meeting was held.

Hawking quoted the pope as saying, "It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not inquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God."

The scientist then joked that he was glad John Paul did not realize that he had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began.

"I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo," Hawking said during a sold-out audience at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The church condemned Galileo in the 17th century for supporting Nicholas Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

But in 1992, Pope John Paul II issued a declaration saying the church's denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

Nice line about Galileo. However, what was the Pope afraid of? I think a lot of people think God is like the Wizard of Oz. Once we figure out that he's really just a bumbling old man with a good light show the jig will be up. Of course, this is not the biblical way to think about God. To see God is to be unmade. The book of Hebrews probably says it best: "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of Living God."

Christians should never fear scientific advancement. God is basically rope-a-doping these jokers. All their "answers" will simply lead to more questions. In short: God don't blink.