Hawking also said: “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers.”

Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m quite grateful to Stephen Hawking. As someone who spends time with those not far from death, or dealing with the death of loved ones, I would say that people find it very hard to talk about death. And, unlike the Professor, many are afraid of death or, at least, of dying. Anything that encourages us to talk about death, what happens, what we believe (and don’t believe) seems a good thing to me.

This week also happens to be Dying Matters Awareness Week. Dying Matters is a coalition backed by several major charities which exists to promote discussion of end-of-life issues. An opinion poll commissioned by the group and out this week has discovered that some of us want to live forever. The poll shows that 21% of 18-24s hanker for immortality, though that falls to 12% for over-65s. The survey suggests that despite the blazing certainty of some, many of us are reluctant to put all our faith in a godless life and death, and the idea of heaven remains popular.

But all this talk of afterlife and “heaven when I die”, for or against, rather misses the point, doesn’t it? For Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven was a present reality not (just) a future hope. The Kingdom of Heaven is ‘at hand’, he said. (Matthew 4:17)

I wonder, too, whether Hawkings comments haven’t been taken a little out of their immediate context by many internet commentators. As far as I can see they were made in response to a few specific questions (detailed at the end of the article).

So, rather than an irate rant at Stephen Hawking, I wonder if a better response would be to thank him for raising the tricky subject of death, breaking the taboo, and encouraging us to talk about it. Then, gently, to re-affirm that Chrisian faith is not all “pie in the sky when you die” but about the coming of God’s Kingdom “on earth as it (already) is in heaven”.

This is something that seems to srike a chord. Belinda Carlisle sang that “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” and in an interview in the latest Radio Times magazine, Paul Merton reflects on his Catholic upbringing:

“I know there’s no judgmental thing or damnation . . . no heaven thing – apart from maybe that heaven’s here.” (Radio Times, 21-27 May 2011)

For the record, I do believe the life that Jesus brings is eternal. There may not be a heaven or afterlife for broken down computers, but there most certainly is a future beyond this life for all God’s people through the death and resurrection of Jesus. There will be a judgement for each of us, but no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Like Hawking, I do not fear death, but unlike him I’m looking forward to a renewed earth, when the ‘kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord’ (Revelation 11:15).

However, I’m far more excited by the prospect of establishing heaven in the here and now, in the lives of ordinary people like you and me. And that’s no fairy tale.