Hawking on God and Gravity

London, England (CNN) -- Religious leaders in Britain on Friday hit back at claims by leading physicist Stephen Hawking that God had no role in the creation of the universe.

In his new book The Grand Design, Britain's most famous scientist says that given the existence of gravity, " universe can and will create itself from nothing," according to an excerpt published in The Times of London.

"Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," he wrote.

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper [fuse] and set the universe going."

Hawking's understanding of cause and effect is as primitive as that of Western religicos. He recognizes only efficient cause and not the even more significant material cause. In this universe, something does not come from nothing. Nothing comes from nothing, and something comes from something. Gravity is not God. It is just one expression of the natural law of attraction.