Stephen Hawking never really was able to build a following of people who are ardently religious. He was an outspoken proponent of climate science, he believed in evolution — but his primary sin was declaring that advances in science give “a more convincing explanation” as to the origins of the universe than a belief in a creator.

Hawking outlived everyone’s expectations. His life defied all odds. But that isn’t stopping some people from speculating that he’s either “burning in hell” or at least is hearing God tell him ‘I told ya so.’

One example of this brand of post-death passive aggressiveness was highlighted by the Friendly Atheist’s Hement Mehta, who pointed to a tweet shared by Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain (R).

“Stephen Hawking now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made,” Cain tweeted on Tuesday. “My condolences to his family.”

Stephen Hawking now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made.

My condolences to his family. — Briscoe Cain (@BriscoeCain) March 14, 2018

The backlash to Cain’s tweet was so forceful that he was compelled to issue a followup statement.

“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,” he said in a comment to the Houston Chronicle, before adding, “but the fact remains that God exists.”

He continued:

“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.”

In other words: sorry you died. Have fun in hell!

Here’s some more examples of Christian grace:

As a believer myself sadly I believe that Steven hawking is now in hell because he did not believe or accept you and there is no way back from the eternal torment he will now suffer — Antony kenyon (@antonykenyon) March 14, 2018

Alright, now we know for sure time travel can't exist. How do we know? Well Steven Hawking isn't back on a hovering wheel chair after they bring him back to life in the year 3200, so I imagine he's just burning in hell with the rest of the atheists. I can elaborate more if needed — Ben (@BMasonJ14) March 14, 2018

R.I.P. Stephen Hawking. May he now have answered the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. May he now know the mind of God. — Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) March 14, 2018

See you in hell bruv. RIP Steven Hawking pic.twitter.com/QoUXXlETni — CryptoMob (@CryptoMob) March 14, 2018

Trust and believe Stephen Hawking is no longer an atheist. May God forgive him. RIP Stephen Hawking. — Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) March 14, 2018

https://twitter.com/therealcornett/status/973918309501624322

Stephen Hawking died. Now he gets to meet the God he so often denied. — Jon Kuiper (@jondiesel78) March 14, 2018

Stephen hawking is burning in hell right now bet he's not an atheist anymore ! The FOOL hath said in his heart, there is no God — Ed lopez (@youngdiciple712) March 14, 2018

Stephen Hawking is burning in Hell. Funny, his final thoughts were that he was going to enter eternal darkness. But when he woke up, he found himself before the Lord, his soul judged by him to be tortured for all eternity in the realm of Satan. pic.twitter.com/5lbPVAn0o7 — Alexander Layko (@alexlayko) March 14, 2018

Ironically, many of these haters think Donald Trump is going to heaven.

[Friendly Atheist] Featured image via Flickr