Quoted from Bud:

I would say what you are referring to is physics, which is a branch of science, but nothing to do with Hawkings studies. Science is testing, observation and repeated results that take theory and turn them to fact. Anything else else is theory, belief or religion.
Religion "may be defined as a cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, world views, texts, sanctified places, prophesies, ethics, or organizations, that relate humanity to the supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual".
He certainly was an intelligent man and dedicated, especially with the limited physical abilities.
Hawking primarily dealt with cosmology and theorems. He was certainly into the supernatural and like most all of us, lived a life and had views according to his practices and understanding of things.