John Pittman Hey preached this message shortly after the death of Dr. Stephen Hawking, world-famous astrophysicist and atheist. The message outlines the ways in which modern science has been perverted in rebellion against Christ. Mr. Hey is a graduate of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Chicago. He preaches every Lord's Day at Grace Bible Church, a small congregation in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Professor Stephen Hawking died last week still an atheist. He was famous as a theoretical astrophysicist, working in the areas of general relativity, quantum gravity, and his theories about black holes.

Hawking's work was directed towards excluding the need for God as the creator of the universe. In the end, Hawking embraced the delusion that the universe created itself out of nothing.

Hawking stated clearly that there was no need for God now that he and others had figured out a better explanation for the existence of the universe. He claimed to have proven that its self-creation from nothing was inevitable due to the law of gravitation.

How far has so-called "science" descended from the heights of Newton, Kepler, and others! Newton particularly believed that God is a personal, perfect, all-powerful Creator Who made the world, and indeed, is required to sustain it. Newton's work was meant to direct all men to understand that a Creator is responsible for all that we see.

But today, much of science has been subverted into vain philosophy, speculation, revisionist history, and mysticism.

Science is supposed to be about collecting observations, and drawing logical inferences and rules from the facts. Scientists theorize about how things work, and try to predict properties and outcomes based upon their theories.

But it's not real science until the theories are tested by experimentation. The scientist must be able to control the experiment and change a condition to produce the predicted outcome.

Technology then takes these theories, and tries to find ways to use them to rearrange matter to produce something new and useful.

Physicists study electron movements in silicon and other elements. Technology applies those discoveries to produce semiconductors.

Astrophysicists study gravity and the motion of planets. Technology applies those discoveries to launch satellites and send men to the moon.

But explanations and theories that cannot be tested by experimentation are not science, because they cannot be demonstrated by manipulations of the system.

Much of so-called evolutionary biology, astrophysics, and geology produce pretty, ingenious theories about systems that cannot be experimented upon - like galaxies, large populations, and continents. These theories are not true science because they can never be proved by experimentation.

History is not science, and science cannot determine what happened in history, because history consists of a series of one-time events that cannot be repeated in a laboratory. It is impossible to prove scientifically how the world came into existence, or how a particular part of the creation came to be configured the way it is. These are historical events not amenable to scientific inquiry.

Explanations about how things came to be are not science, no matter how technical and elaborate they are. They are faux history masquerading as science. They are speculation, and often descend into mysticism.

Mathematical models are not science, and cannot provide independent explanations for how the world actually works.

Indeed, Hawking produced a mathematical model of the universe that appears to be plausible on paper, yet defies physical reality.

Sadly, our society has come to embrace the false idea that just because an explanation seems plausible, that makes it the truth. This notion has corrupted science, history, our courts, and our daily lives. It is why there are so many false convictions in court, and so many conspiracy theories in our public arena. A plausible, consistent explanation does not thereby become the truth. Its plausibility does not prove it true.

All the modern speculative explanations developed by corrupt science have logical holes in them, and contradict some of the facts. Genetic sequencing of numerous species has dispoved the so-called "evolutionary tree."  Hawking's black hole theory contains logical contradictions. Massive experiments in mutations have failed to prove the creation of the new information necessary to drive biological evolution.

Yet these men do not abandon their speculations because they are the "best explanation" of the way the world works that doesn't include God! Their very purpose is to write God out of existence.

Wicked men will embrace a flawed explanation if that's all they have to justify excluding God. To them, any explanation is better than the one that God created the world.

The bedrock issue is philosophical and mystical speculation under the cloak of corrupt science versus the eyewitness testimony provided by God Himself that He made the world. His testimony is recorded in Genesis. Not only so, but the world declares God's glory and shows His handiwork!

Paul the Apostle described how the things we can see prove the invisible power and might of God, and that no man has an excuse to reject God. Yet men rebel against Him, because they do not wish to be subject to His holiness and justice and wrath for their sin. They call themselves wise, but they are really fools. They do not like to retain God in their minds.

Corrupt and false science has become modern-day man's escape from the power and judgment of God, and even when their speculations show themselves to be flawed, they are clung to by rebellious men because they like to reject God.

Hawking and other scientists of this type are the tools used by Satan to help wicked men justify their rejection of God. They are like modern-day Egyptian shamans who replicated the power of God when Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh. Their alternate godless explanations of the creation provide men permission to reject the evidence of God's power in the creation.

Stephen Hawking thought he could speculate his way out of God's wrath for his sin, but in the end, his system could not save him. For all the fake science, vain philosophy, and specious knowledge, Hawking still had to face the God he ran so hard from.

The sad thing for Hawking is, that the very One who came to save sinners, our Lord Jesus, Himself made the world. The second Person of the Godhead was responsible to make all things, and to uphold all things, just like Newton advocated.

Not only so, He was sent at the incarnation to save His people from their sin. Think of it: the One Who upholds the very existence of the whole world, voluntarily laid down His life at Calvary to save His poor people, and this is the Man that Stephen Hawking spent his whole life in speculations and myth-making and machinating against!

Stephen Hawking's life's work was one long act of rebellion against Christ, as described by the Psalmist.

Truly, the Lord Jesus was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not!

But praise God, whoever is brought to Jesus by the Father and trusts in His sacrifice will not be lost, but will be raised up unto everlasting life at the last day!