RIP to the great mind and atheist Stephen Hawkings

this is becoming a thread about Christ more than about Hawking.

or rather about medieval Christianity. If you don’t believe in burning witches then you can’t be a proper Christian If you don;’t think Jesus was a Guardian reader, then you must be a witch-burner.

I’ve not actually said what my Christianity is because it’s not relelvant to the discussion. I don’t agree with Nem’s approach but that would be another thread if it ever emerges, or something for private discussion.

Contrary to ms M’s view of the discussion, I’m not referring to any books here other than A Brief History of Time.

I’ve not criticised Hawking’s intellect, courage or ability to shake scientific thinking about the universe around a bit.

He is unusual in that he trail-blazed the idea of popularising cosmology, becoming a tv star, subject of a romanticised film bio and standing for a lot of non-scientisfic people as an authority for understanding the universe in a particular way.

He became a folk hero. A lot of people lap up folk heroes. I don’t. I haven’t since I was inmy early 20s. That’s just me. People are people, with strengths and failings..Hawking is like you and I in that respect.

I’m not a scientist so I was wondering whether he made a lasting contribution to our scientific knowledge. maybe he did. But as I try to figure my way through all the jargon, I don’t see it.

Nobody here has enlightened me. The most I’ve got is that he was incr4dibly complicated and that Christianity is a load of rubbish

Sorry for (partly) disagreeing about this folk-hero..

Doesn’t make me a witch-burner.

Sceppers,  The Chief Exec of The British Science Association would disagree with you….. but what does she know eh ?

”“He was a true genius who had a great admiration of and connection to the public. Most people, when he published A Brief History of Time, would have thought a book about physics would not sell. But Stephen knew people would want to read it and it turned out they did,” said Katherine Mathieson, Chief Executive of the British Science Association.”

mooosey88 wrote:

Sceppers, The Chief Exec of The British Science Association would disagree with you….. but what does she know eh ? ”“He was a true genius who had a great admiration of and connection to the public. Most people, when he published A Brief History of Time, would have thought a book about physics would not sell. But Stephen knew people would want to read it and it turned out they did,” said Katherine Mathieson, Chief Executive of the British Science Association.”

How does she disagree with me?

It strikes me as precisely what I said, apart form the genius word.

But in this context she’s even right about him being a genius – he connected to the public.

Still waiting for an answer about Hawking rther than people making things up about Jesus and then attacking him.

p.s. I thought Paul saw the Ten Commandments as the work of sin which had been replaced?? And the two-fold commandment mentioned by Nem belongs to Judaism.

Stop hitting at easy Aunt Sallies and get to the real  point about Hawking.

Bye

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by  mooosey88.

mooosey88 wrote:

Commandment Alert Level Punishment 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Severe Genocide. Entire cities with men, women, children and animals must be killed. (Deuteronomy 2:33-34, Numbers 21:34-35, 1 Samuel 15:2-3, Joshua 6:21. Joshua 10:40) In some cases you can keep the girls alive for raping. (Numbers 31:15-18) 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image Severe Genocide. Entire cities with men, women, children and animals must be killed. (See above.) 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; High Capital punishment (Leviticus 24:16, Deuteronomy 18:20, Mark 3:28-29) 4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. High Capital punishment (Exodus 31:14, Exodus 31:15, Exodus 35:2 Numbers 15:32) 5. Honour thy father and thy mother: High Capital punishment (Exodus 21:15, Exodus 21:17, Leviticus 20:9) 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. High Capital punishment (Leviticus 20:10) 6. Thou shalt not kill. Elevated Capital punishment in some cases (For killing Cain, yes, for killing Abel, no: Genesis 4:15). 8. Thou shalt not steal. Guarded Excessive fines or slavery: (Exodus 22:1-3). Only in rare cases such as stealing slaves, capital punishment (Exodus 21:16). Thieves caught in the night are to be executed (Exodus 22:1-3) 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Low Despisement and scorn (Proverbs 12:8) 10. Thou shalt not covet . . . Low Despisement and scorn (Romans 7:7-8)

These aren’t actually the 10 commandments, which is another thing Christians seem to get wrong a lot. Moses wrote these commandments on stone tablets, but then immediatedly destroyed them when he discovered that his followers began worshiping a golden calf. He returned up the mountain where God gave him new commandments, which were the ones placed into the Arc of the Covenant :
“17 Don’t make metal images of gods.

18 Don’t fail to observe the Festival of Thin Bread in the month of Abib.[c] Obey me and eat bread without yeast for seven days during Abib, because that is the month you left Egypt.

19 The first-born males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me.

20 You can save the life of a first-born donkey[d] by sacrificing a lamb; if you don’t, you must break the donkey’s neck. You must save every first-born son.

Bring an offering every time you come to worship.

21 Do your work in six days and rest on the seventh day, even during the seasons for plowing and harvesting. 22 Celebrate the Harvest Festival[e] each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters[f] each autumn when you pick your fruit.

23 Your men must come to worship me three times a year, because I am the Lord God of Israel. 24 I will force the nations out of your land and enlarge your borders. Then no one will try to take your property when you come to worship me these three times each year.

25 When you sacrifice an animal on the altar, don’t offer bread made with yeast. And don’t save any part of the Passover meal for the next day.

26 I am the Lord your God, and you must bring the first part of your harvest to the place of worship.

Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” – Exodus 34

It’s almost like these people have never actually read the literature that their belief relies on

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