Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Stephen Hawking ended "A Brief History of Time" with the most famous sentence in popular science — "then we would know the mind of God." An Oxford mathematician who knew him says Hawking never meant it, knew it would sell books, and did it anyway. Stephen Hawking admitted the most famous line in his book was designed to sell copies. An Oxford mathematician who was in the room explains why that single decision damaged public trust in science for a generation.
John Lennox is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, a man who debated Dawkins, Hitchens, and Singer on the world's biggest stages.
We cover: why Hawking weaponized the phrase "mind of God" while privately rejecting God, what Brian Keating witnessed firsthand meeting Hawking in 1995, and the one contradiction Hawking never addressed.
00:00 The most famous sentence Hawking never believed
01:15 What Hawking actually said about selling books
02:30 Brian Keating's 1995 encounter with Hawking
03:45 Using God's name to move 10 million copies
04:30 The question Hawking refused to answer
Full conversation with John Lennox: youtu.be/KiUumTrW__U
📬 Win a meteorite: briankeating.com/yt
🔔 Subscribe: youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
John Lennox is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, one of the few people who publicly debated both Hawking's ideas and his contemporaries Dawkins and Hitchens.
We cover: why Hawking used God as a marketing device while arguing God doesn't exist, what happens when the world's most famous physicist treats theology as a sales hook, and the contradiction Hawking never resolved.
00:00 The most famous sentence in science — and the lie behind it
01:15 Hawking knew "mind of God" would sell millions
02:30 Using God's name while denying God's existence
03:45 Why Lennox says this damaged public understanding of science
04:30 The question Hawking refused to answer honestly
Full conversation with John Lennox: youtu.be/KiUumTrW__U
Stephen Hawking ended "A Brief History of Time" with the most famous sentence in popular science — "then we would know the mind of God." An Oxford mathematician who knew him says Hawking never meant it, knew it would sell books, and did it anyway. Stephen Hawking admitted the most famous line in his book was designed to sell copies. An Oxford mathematician who was in the room explains why that single decision damaged public trust in science for a generation.
John Lennox is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, a man who debated Dawkins, Hitchens, and Singer on the world's biggest stages.
We cover: why Hawking weaponized the phrase "mind of God" while privately rejecting God, what Brian Keating witnessed firsthand meeting Hawking in 1995, and the one contradiction Hawking never addressed.
00:00 The most famous sentence Hawking never believed
01:15 What Hawking actually said about selling books
02:30 Brian Keating's 1995 encounter with Hawking
03:45 Using God's name to move 10 million copies
04:30 The question Hawking refused to answer
Full conversation with John Lennox: youtu.be/KiUumTrW__U
📬 Win a meteorite: briankeating.com/yt
🔔 Subscribe: youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
John Lennox is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, one of the few people who publicly debated both Hawking's ideas and his contemporaries Dawkins and Hitchens.
We cover: why Hawking used God as a marketing device while arguing God doesn't exist, what happens when the world's most famous physicist treats theology as a sales hook, and the contradiction Hawking never resolved.
00:00 The most famous sentence in science — and the lie behind it
01:15 Hawking knew "mind of God" would sell millions
02:30 Using God's name while denying God's existence
03:45 Why Lennox says this damaged public understanding of science
04:30 The question Hawking refused to answer honestly
Full conversation with John Lennox: youtu.be/KiUumTrW__U
