Stephen Hawking's posthumous book 'Brief Answers to The Big Questions' says 'there's no God'

"There is no God" - that is the conclusion famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has reached in his final book.

The newly-published book, Brief Answers to The Big Questions, finished by Hawking's family in the wake of his death earlier this year, includes insightful answers on topics like “how did it all begin?” and “will we survive on Earth?” However, the very first question answered in the book is “Is there a God?”

In the several-page response, Hawking wrote “I do not want to give the impression that my work is about proving or disproving the existence of God.” He then muses on the definition on God and the function of belief.

Ultimately, his brief answer is this: “We are each free to believe what we want, and it's my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate.”

For fans of Hawking, this belief will not come as a surprise. Hawking was known as one of the world’s most famous atheists, writing many times that he did not believe in God or any sort of afterlife.

The fact that Hawking did not believe in God was obvious enough to some that Gizmodo even poked fun at outlets that reported his atheism as a revelation. According to the Pew Research Center, only a third of scientists believe in God.

That being said, few, if any, of the questions in the book are ones Hawking had not answered before. Brief Answers to The Big Questions was put together as an archive of Hawking’s notes, from answers he had given in speeches, interviews and essays. He had been editing them together as a sort of reference book before he died. According to the book, the publisher collaborated with Hawking’s colleagues, his daughter Lucy, and The Stephen Hawking Estate.

Although Hawking did not believe in any sort of God, creator, or afterlife, the book details his belief in aliens and the possibility of time travel