Flew the Theist

Posted by Pastor Beatty (user1) on Oct 17 2007 at 12:39 AM

What is the world coming to?  First Anne Rice and now Anthony Flew, one of the most outspoken atheists of the past century, has become a theist.  What do they both have in common?  The Bishop of Durham.

Flew made news a couple years ago when he announced to the world that he was no longer an atheist, because evidence for belief in a God was simply too overwhelming to continue to ignore.  Now he is chronicling his change in views in his new book "There is a God:  How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind."  What I find fasicinating is the fact that N. T. Wright contributes an appendix to the book.   

Below is a description from Publishers Weekly:

"British philosopher Flew has long been something of an evangelist for
atheism, debating theologians and pastors in front of enormous crowds.
In 2004, breathless news reports announced that the nonagenarian had
changed his mind. This book tells why. Ironically, his arguments about
the absurdity of God-talk launched a revival of philosophical theists,
some of whom, like Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne, were
important in Flew's recent conversion to theism. Breakthroughs in
science, especially cosmology, also played a part: if the speed or mass
of the electron were off just a little, no life could have evolved on
this planet. Perhaps the arrogance of the New Atheists also emboldened
him, as Flew taunts them for failing to live up to the greatness of
atheists of yore. The book concludes with an appendix by New Testament
scholar and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright, arguing for the coherence of
Christian belief in the resurrection. Flew praises Wright, though he
maintains some distance still from orthodox Christianity. The book will
be most avidly embraced by traditional theists seeking argumentative
ammunition. It sometimes disappoints: quoting other authorities at
length, citing religion-friendly scientists for pages at a time and
belaboring side issues, like the claim that Einstein was really a
religious believer of sorts."

HT to Paul Buckley

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