What Stephen Hawking said about life after death, and why he believed science was enough

Few figures have reshaped our understanding of the universe as profoundly as Stephen Hawking . Known for his groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the cosmos, Hawking was not only a scientist but a symbol of resilience, a man who defied a devastating diagnosis to become one of the most influential thinkers of the modern age. Yet when it came to questions that reach beyond the limits of science, God, heaven, and life after death, his answers were as unflinching as his intellect. Born in 1942, Stephen Hawking’s life was transformed at just 21 when doctors diagnosed him with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease. He was told he had only two years to live. Instead, he went on to survive for more than half a century, passing away in 2018 at th