World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking told a packed audience in California this week that the Big Bang did not require G-d for creation.

In a talk entitled “The Origin of the Universe” delivered Tuesday night at California Institute of Technology, Hawking presented his case against the Creator.

“What was G-d doing before the Divine creation?” he kibbitzed in response to a question about whether G-d was necessary to the formation of the universe. “Was he preparing Hell for people who asked such questions?”

The famed British scientist, who for years has been paralyzed due to Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), observed that data collected by space telescopes and other instruments seem to confirm his own research showing a definitive beginning to the universe.

The instruments, he said, indicate a vast and nearly infinite cosmos of approximately 13.6 billion years old, according to The Space Reporter.

Hawking said he disagreed with a recent study that suggested the universe may not have had a beginning or end and may instead have resulted from a repeating Big Bang.

Current science does not have all of the answers, Hawking admitted, but added that it does provide humanity with a path towards unlocking the mysteries of our existence – among them, questions surrounding black holes, dark matter and dark energy. He also urged policy makers to continue to explore the possibility of human travel to nearby planets and elsewhere in space. 

Earlier this year, Hawking commented that he would be surprised if humanity existed 1,000 years from now due to the huge risks to humanity posed by scientific discoveries such as the atom bomb.