The astrophysicist's words have recently resurfaced

In his 2002 book The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe, Hawking wrote: "For centuries, it was believed that disabled people like me were living under a curse that was inflicted by God.

"Well, I suppose it's possible that I've upset someone up there, but I prefer to think that everything can be explained another way, by the laws of nature.

"If you believe in science, like I do, you believe that there are certain laws that are always obeyed. If you like, you can say the laws are the work of God, but that is more a definition of God than a proof of his existence."

He went on: "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 the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realisation, there’s 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."