When asked if he believed in God, Stephen Hawking gave a simple vanswer.

He was a breakthrough theoretical physicist, and his brilliance piqued the curiosity of others in his ideas about God and the afterlife. In several interviews and writings, he discussed the existence of a higher power and the possibility of an afterlife.

When asked if he believes in God, Hawking’s reaction was unequivocal. He held that there was no proof of a higher power and that scientific laws could explain the universe.

“Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe,” he said in an interview with El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper. But science now provides a more plausible explanation.”