Eddie Redmayne's poignant Bible reading about TIME at Professor Stephen Hawking's funeral couldn't have been more perfect

The actor read the passage about Time as he stood by Stephen's coffin (Image: i-Images Picture Agency)

Prof Hawking's children said the service will be 'both inclusive and traditional' (Image: PA)

By

Charlotte Neal

17:17, 31 MAR 2018

UPDATED19:03, 31 MAR 2018

A Bible passage about TIME read at the funeral of Professor Stephen Hawking perfectly paid tribute to the world-renowned physicist.

Read by the Theory of Everything actor Eddie Redmayne at the service in Cambridge today, Ecclesiastes 3.1-11 is entitled 'Everything Has Its Time'.

It summed up everything Prof Hawking stood for and represented - courage, self-believe and worth, and of course, discussing theories of time - the tear-jerking reading could not have been more perfect.

The passage in full reads:

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace."

Actor Redmayne, who played Prof Hawking in the 2014 biographical drama, was one of the first to arrive at the University Church of St Mary the Great in Cambridge for the service, alongside co-star Lily Cole.

Huge crowds lined the streets to pay their respects to Prof Hawking (Image: PA)

The coffin of British physicist, Stephen Hawking, is carried from Great St Mary's Church following the funeral service (Image: Getty Images Europe)

They were among 500 guests invited to attend the service celebrating the 76-year-old's life.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Cambridge to watch the funeral, and as his coffin was carried to the church they burst into spontaneous applause.

In another nod to the scientist's theories, the ceremony included space-themed music composed specially for Hawking called "Beyond the Night Sky", inspired by a poem and quotes from "A Brief History of Time" and whistling and "shh" sounds based on recordings of space.

Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, a personal friend, read from Plato's Apology 40, "The Death of Socrates", which talks of the search for knowledge persisting after death.

Actor Eddie Redmayne arriving at Prof Hawking's funeral in Cambridge today (Image: WENN.com)

The reading could not have been more perfect (Image: WENN.com)

Confined to a wheelchair for most of his life after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Diseasewhen he was 21, Hawking's towering intellect and sheer persistence struck a chord with ordinary people, Rees said in an appreciation published earlier this month.

"Why did he become such a 'cult figure'? The concept of an imprisoned mind roaming the cosmos plainly grabbed people's imagination," he said.

"His name will live in the annals of science; millions have had their cosmic horizons widened by his best-selling books; and even more, around the world, have been inspired by a unique example of achievement against all the odds - a manifestation of amazing will-power and determination."

The service was officiated by the Reverend Dr Cally Hammond, Dean of Gonville and Caius College.

Extracts from the eulogy by Prof Faye Dowker read: "Stephen shared his work and his zest for the fundamental questions it addressed with wide audiences.

"He inspired people with the excitement and importance of pure scientific enquiry and was admired and revered for his devotion, as a scholar, to the pursuit of knowledge.

Family and friends of the respected scientist inside the church (Image: i-Images Picture Agency)

"This high regard was demonstrated wherever in the world he gave a public lecture: the auditorium was always packed, the atmosphere electric and the applause thunderous.

"Stephen was my teacher, mentor and friend.

"I, like many who knew and loved him, had come to think of him as immortal and our sorrow is tinged with a feeling of disbelief that he is no longer here.

"But his influence and legacy will live forever."

The famed theoretical physicist passed away peacefully at home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, March 14 at the age of 76.

Sons Robert and Tim and daughter Lucy said the service was held in Cambridge because it was "the city that he loved so much".

In a statement , Prof Hawking’s children said: “On behalf of our whole family we want to express our huge gratitude for all the wonderful tributes to our father and to those who have sent us messages of condolence.

“Our father lived and worked in Cambridge for over 50 years.

"He was an integral and highly recognisable part of the university and the city.

“For this reason, we have decided to hold his funeral in the city that he loved so much and which loved him.

“Our father’s life and work meant many things to many people, both religious and non-religious.

“So, the service will be both inclusive and traditional, reflecting the breadth and diversity of his life.

“We would like to thank Gonville & Caius College, the University of Cambridge and Trinity College, Cambridge for their assistance with our father’s funeral service.”

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, the Dean of Westminster added: "It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists."

The scientist, who was nicknamed "Einstein" as a student, spent most of his life in a wheelchair, unable to speak or move after being diagnosed with ALS - or motor neurone disease - at the age of 21.

His sharp mind changed the way people understand the universe with his breakthrough theory that radiation comes from black holes, and he served as an inspiration to millions.

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