It's been a week with headlines announcing that famed scientist Stephen Hawking is an atheist. His view is that science alone can explain the origin of the universe. Not that Hawking has yet explained how science can do that. For many of us, it always comes down to an issue of first cause; where did the stuff, the building blocks of creation, come from?
In turn, Stephen King told HuffPost Life in an interview Wednesday that the universe is too complicated not to think it did not originate from a supreme being. In other words, there has to be something outside of creation to bring it into existence. "It's so complex," King said. "So I have a tendency to believe in intelligent design."
King told HuffPost Life,
"The very construction of the world and the fact that we seem to be the only blue-populated planet in the universe — and we've been looking for quite a while now, at least since the late 50s —it makes you have to believe that if we happened by accident, it would make winning the lottery look like flipping a coin,"Cosmology is the very issue that brought long time atheist apologist, Anthony Flew, to a belief in God. Flew wrote in his book, There Is A God, “I now believe that the universe was brought into existence by an infinite intelligence. I believe that this universe’s intricate laws manifest what scientists have called the mind of God. I believe that life and reproduction originate in a divine source. Why do I believe this, given that I expounded and defended atheism for half a century, the short answer is this: This is the world picture as I see it that has emerged from modern science.”
"I love the idea that there could be a power greater than myself that's sort of writing the script," King said. "I try to live my life by saying that God may be watching out for me. . ."
The full article is at huffingtonpost.com
I think this interview is an helpful go to source for later on, when reading "Revival". I think it might help readers keep the facts straight on King's stated opinions, what REALLY believes, and whatever conflicting voices may crop up in the mouth of a FICTIONAL character who may not by mouthpiece for the author at all.
ReplyDeleteI think two things are worth note about the interview itself.
One is that the quote about the Afterlife is reference to it's basic metaphysical nature, not as to whether or not it exists (in fact, I think I heard a long earlier quote from King in which he said he believe in an Afterlife, just not what it might be like).
Second, that statement about not backing "organized" religion might itself place King into a specific category, or sect.
I could be wrong about this, but it sounds very much like a New England Tradition of Dissent. Slightly radical, though not in a secular sense, and, for better or worse, thoroughly American in it's origins.
Also, I think "Revival" might in some way pick up the thematic threads of novels like Green Mile and Desperation. Not in the sense of being a sequel to either book, but just tackling much of the same ideas those books discussed.
ChrisC
On the topic of science, I'm inclined to take Stephen Hawking's word over Stephen King's word pretty much 100% of the time.
ReplyDeleteThat HuffPost interview was awesome, though. Between that and the "Finding Your Roots" episode, it was a fine week for King as an interviewee.
I've just come from watching the promo trailer to "Revival" now posted up at King's official book page (scroll down and there it'll be, big as life):
ReplyDeletehttp://stephenking.com/promo/revival/
It's not bad, I just wonder if they're putting as much imagination into promoting the book as they did it's American cover (also can't wait to see the European trailers, if they got any).
ChrisC
you already know they put zero creative energy into that cover.
ReplyDelete