The flight of Flew

As with Albert Einstein, there has been a tug-of-war between atheists and theists over the beliefs of Antony Flew. In 2004, news first came out that this former starter for the atheist first team has switched sides and decided to play for the opposing team, something he has denied in subsequent interviews, asserting instead that what he believes in is closer to Deism, which he shares with such luminaries as Thomas Jefferson. I speculated that the new atheists (Dawkins, et al.) decided to come out with their polemic against the existence of God as a response to Professor Flew's alleged switching of sides--they had to do some damage control. Such was the impact of their loss of Professor Flew.

I myself withheld any conclusions as to where Professor Flew's true position lies. I thought that to be fair to him, I would interpret his beliefs as, not really deism, but a position that the existence of a God could no longer be categorically denied, that is, one cannot reasonably eliminate the existence of a God from the realm of the reasonable.

But it turns out he has written a book (with Roy Abraham Varghese) with a rather straightforward title: There Is a God (How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind) due out in October this year. Such a categorical statement! One that would no doubt ruffle feathers among the Scarlet Letter crowd. From the Harper Collins site:

In one of the biggest religion news stories of the new millennium, the Associated Press announced that Professor Antony Flew, the world's leading atheist, now believes in God.

Flew is a pioneer for modern atheism. His famous paper, Theology and Falsification, was first presented at a meeting of the Oxford Socratic Club chaired by C. S. Lewis and went on to become the most widely reprinted philosophical publication of the last five decades. Flew earned his fame by arguing that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He now believes that such evidence exists, and There Is a God chronicles his journey from staunch atheism to believer.

For the first time, this book will present a detailed and fascinating account of Flew's riveting decision to revoke his previous beliefs and argue for the existence of God. Ever since Flew's announcement, there has been great debate among atheists and believers alike about what exactly this "conversion" means. There Is a God will finally put this debate to rest.

This is a story of a brilliant mind and reasoned thinker, and where his lifelong intellectual pursuit eventually led him: belief in God as designer.

I expect either of two things from the militant atheist camp (not from the reasonable atheists--yes, there is such a thing as a reasonable atheist): 1) War drums; a concerted effort to discredit Professor Flew's arguments, if not his person or 2) Spin. "See? Flew doesnt really believe in the Christian god. He's still on the side of reason." (For reason, read: He's still one of us.).

Abangan.