Religious Texas lawmaker trolls atheist Stephen Hawking after his death saying world-renowned physicist 'now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made'

• Texas State Rep Briscoe Cain is a conservative lawmaker and a devout Christian
• He tweeted that atheist Stephen Hawking 'now knows the truth' about God
• Hawking, the acclaimed physicist, passed away on Tuesday
• Before his death, Hawking argued that God did not create the universe 

A religious conservative Texas state lawmaker was criticized Tuesday for trolling British physicist Stephen Hawking shortly after the world learned of his death.

‘Stephen Hawking now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made. My condolences to his family,’ the lawmaker, Briscoe Cain, tweeted on Tuesday night.

Hawking was a world-renowned theoretical physicist who was also an outspoken atheist.

He has long argued that God did not create the universe and that the ‘Big Bang’ was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics.

In Hawking’s book The Grand Design, co-authored with US physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking wrote that a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant.

‘Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,’ Hawking writes.

‘It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.’

Elaborating on the point, Hawking told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo in 2014: ‘Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe.

‘But now science offers a more convincing explanation.

‘What I meant by “we would know the mind of God” is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn’t.

‘I’m an atheist.’

Cain was asked by the The American-Statesman if it was appropriate to use the occasion of Hawking’s death to question his atheism.

‘I am sympathetic for his family’s loss. Losing a loved one is difficult for everyone. My prayers are with them,’ Cain said.

The lawmaker was unapologetic.

‘While many see him as one of the greatest public intellectuals of the last century, and no one disputes that he was brilliant, the fact remains that God exists,’ he said.

‘My tweet was to show the gravity of the Gospel and what happens when we die, namely, that we all will one day meet the Creator of the universe face to face.

‘Stephen Hawking was a vocal atheist, who advocated against and openly mocked God.

‘Hawking has said, “[T]here is no god. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate.” And, elsewhere, “I’m an atheist’.’

Another Texas state rep criticized Cain.

'At a time like this, and I don’t care who it is, and I am sure they care less who you are, but mocking the deceased and his family reveals the smallness of your character. Be better than that,' tweeted state rep Poncho Nevarez. 

Cain was not alone among religious conservatives on social media, including Muslims, who rejoiced at Hawking’s death.

A number of social media users said that Hawking was 'condemned to hell' over his views on religion. 

'Good news: Stephen Hawking is no longer an atheist,' tweeted Westboro Baptist Church.

'Bad news: it's too late for him to repent of his blasphemy against His Creator and seek God's mercy!

'Woe unto worldly-wise men who forsake God. Don't follow Hawking to Hell.' 

A Twitter user who identified himself as Mustafa wrote: 'He is in the worst position right now for he is a loser in the hereafter. Do not displease Allah by saying RIP to atheist and the worst of mankind.'