This is big news!
For decades Antony Flew has been one of the main standard bearers for atheism in the world of philosophy. He has done a ton of work trying to argue atheism, including authoring some of the standard articles on the subject.
His reversal on this subject is certainly cause for rejoicing in heaven.
Unfortunately, that rejocing (as yet) would seem to be incomplete, for Flew has not become a Christian or even a theist. He’s now a deist, meaning that he believes God exists but doesn’t interact with the universe and people’s lives. He also is willing to say harsh things about the Christian image of God (based, I think, on a failure to separate the kind of historically-conditioned imagery the Bible uses for God from the reality toward which these images point).
Still, it’s a major step in the right direction.
Here’s a very recent interview between Flew and Gary Habermas: http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/index.cfm
Hallelu Yah!
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead ALL souls into Heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Great link to the interview. I’m impressed that he quotes from Aquinas!
Jimmy, I read your piece on This Rock about the burden of proof. After reading this article, the first question that comes to mind is: why would Flew argue that the burden of proof is on us (i.e. God beleiving people)? and why would he say that “the debate over God must begin by presuming atheism”?
Any thoughts?
Miguel
With “Intelligent Design” theories gaining more followers, I think Deism is going to make a come back among scientists in particular.
ZF
Miguel,
Antony Flew’s page on the Secular Web site (look at the list of authors) contains an article called ‘The Presumption of Atheism’, which explains his view.