Texas state lawmaker defends his response to Stephen Hawking's death: 'God exists'

A conservative Christian lawmaker in Texas had to defend his response to Stephen Hawking’s death after initially taking a jab at the world-famous physicist’s stance on religion.

Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain tweeted early Wednesday, shortly after news broke of Hawking’s death, that the scientist "now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made," while offering his sympathies to Hawking's family.

After internet backlash to that comment, Cain later issued a comment to The Houston Chronicle to clarify his tweet.

"Losing a loved one is never easy and I am sympathetic for his family's loss. My prayers are with them. Stephen Hawking was brilliant, many even called him one of the greatest public intellectuals of the last century, but the fact remains that God exists," Cain said.

"My tweet was to show the gravity of the Gospel and what happens when we pass, namely, that we all will one day meet our Creator face to face. Though Hawking has long been a vocal atheist who advocated against and openly mocked God, I hope nothing but the best for his family and pray that he came to know faith before he passed."

Social media users took that as an insult to the award-winning scientist who famously stated, “There is no god. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate."

Without mentioning Cain, Republican Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach took to Twitter to call out fellow Christians making “hateful and snarky” comments about Hawking’s death.