Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story'

A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.

The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future. More...

Don't miss:

1. When God had a wife... 
2. History of religion in 2 minutes...
3. Dave Allen's first contact with God... 
4. Is there life after death? 
5. " Your faith is a joke, your relgion is a joke..."
6. Einstein: religion is "childish superstitions".
7. What is religion? Carlin has the answer...