“When people ask me if a god created the universe, I tell them that the question itself makes no sense. Time didn’t exist before the big bang, so there is no time for god to make the universe in. It’s like asking directions to the edge of the earth; The Earth is a sphere; it doesn’t have an edge; so looking for it is a futile exercise. We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is; there is no god. No one created our universe,and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization; There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that I am extremely grateful.” Stephen Hawking.
We need more people like this in the world but minds like his were one in the billions!
"We need more people like this in the world but minds like his were one in the billions!" Not in this context, let's not take his works and apply that to every thought the man had.
Even Stephen Hawking cannot say time didn't exist before the big bang.