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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
Flew Renounces Atheism!
“I Know That God Does Not Exist.” Those words were the proposition for the debate between Antony G. N. Flew and Thomas B. Warren in September of 1976. The proposition was affirmed by Flew and denied by Warren. It was a debate for the minds of men and women everywhere.
Warren from Texas and Flew from England, both with academic credentials in philosophy, debated for four nights. Unlike a ball game, there was no “official” winner, but facts were presented, arguments expressed, and minds challenged.
Now, twenty-eight years later, news comes that Flew, formerly considered one of the most capable champions of atheism, says the evidence from biology’s investigation of DNA reveals the complexity of man, and proves “intelligence must have been involved” in man’s origin.
Having denied God’s existence for so long, Flew’s admission was a “bombshell” for atheists. This was a monumental change for him, but he still does not believe the God of the Bible is the source of “intelligence” that brought forth man and the universe. He calls himself a “deist,” accepting a “god’s” existence but denying his involvement in people’s lives today.
“I JUST FOLLOWED THE EVIDENCE...”
What changed the mind of one of the world’s most renowned “unbelievers”? It was THE EVIDENCE! In 1976 Thomas Warren argued that the universe and man are far too complex to have come from mere “rocks and dirt.” Science declares that life must come from life, i.e. the “Law of Biogenesis.”
Now complexity is “evidence” Flew considers sufficient for him to change his mind on this vital subject. Is there evidence that creation is more reasonable than evolution? Being a rational, logical person (that is, one who reaches only those conclusions that are warranted by the facts), Flew considered the evidence, and concluded that what exists today could not have come about without some form of intelligence as its source, as its mechanism.
WHAT EVIDENCE DID FLEW FOLLOW?
I do not know all that led to Flew’s change of mind on this subject, but I know what Thomas Warren gave him as evidence:
- “LIFE” REQUIRES ITS ORIGIN FROM “LIFE” NOT ROCKS AND DIRT. It is not reasonable to conclude that the human body’s respiratory and circulatory systems, so co-dependent one upon the other, could have come into existence without intelligent oversight.
- TO BE VALID, THE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE MORAL LAW MUST BE HIGHER THAN AND BEYOND THE MIND OF MAN. Atheism has no source for objective moral law since that law demands a moral being outside man. In the debate, Flew explicitly agreed that Hitler’s 3rd Reich did violate objective moral law in killing millions of Jews. He would not, however, identify that law’s source.
- EVIDENCE OF DESIGN IN THE UNIVERSE DEMANDS A DESIGNER. Again, the complexity blended with the apparent design in the universe surfaced in his recent statements. “Intelligent Design” is the subject of controversy in today’s scientific world. Flew, seeing the complex, organized, designed universe in which man exists, could not resist the obvious conclusion. Given the illustration of an artificial hand compared to a human hand, Flew was forced to say the artificial hand is the product of design, while an eminently more articulate human hand was the product of pure luck. Flew, concurring with other rational beings, realized the absurdity of that conclusion, hence his change of mind. Truly, apparent design is evidence of a “divine designer.”
- ATHEISM’S “PROBLEM OF EVIL” IS AN INVALID ARGUMENT AGAINST GOD. In their debate, Flew merely hinted at atheism’s only “affirmative argument” but never presented it as evidence. Warren, on the other hand, was prepared and eager to refute it. When it was obvious that Flew would not state the argument, Warren did so and gave his rebuttal to it. One of Flew’s problems was in his attitude toward “objective evil,” and evidently this prevented his use of that argument. If Hitler had been guilty of “objective” evil, it must be admitted that a transcendent being outside man exists to make that law.
Agreement to this fact must have forced Flew to re-think his position, and he never forgot that fact.
ANTONY FLEW’S CURRENT STATUS
His first public revelation of doubt concerning his atheism was seen in last Fall’s edition of PHILOSOPHY NOW magazine. At that time he spoke of his increasing difficulty in accepting a “naturalistic theory of the evolution of that first reproducing organism.” A new edition of Flew’s GOD AND PHILOSOPHY is due next year. He makes it clear that he continues to accept Darwinian evolution, but doubts it can “explain the ultimate origins of life.” He still has a long way to go, but this is encouraging news. The evidence for God exists, and we must take it to the world.
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“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and the host of them by the breath of His mouth…He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast,”
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