antony flew's 'there is a god'

Antony Flew, a contemporary of CS Lewis and his fellow Oxfordian, has written a book akin to 'Surprised by Joy' by the famous Christian apologist albeit a little late in his life. Here is a colossal shift of mind from one that denies the existence of God to one of discovery. Yet, Flew says this is by no means a paradigm shift, as far as the modus operandus of his intellectual journey is concerned. He has simply been following the Socratic dictum as he always does 'to follow the evidence wherever it leads' and in the last two decades has undergone a slow turning of the mind to the weight of the evidence for the existence of God, defined by Aristotle as the Supreme Intelligence/Being, incorporeal, immutable, all-good, all-powerful, transcendent and omnipresent. This God incidentally shares many essential traits with the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

He's made clear that this is not the first time he has recanted his previous positions and his life has been characterised by quite a few revision of views, as is necessitated by a constant quest for truths wherever the evidence or argument points. While he has changed his view here on the existence of God, he has yet to be convinced that the after-life exists. He is not therefore placing a Pascalian bet with his conversion, as his critics have charged. Nor does his 'tergiversation' (apostasy from the atheist fraternity) have anything to do with the ravages of an aging mind. Quite the contrary, as would be evident to anyone who takes the trouble to read this book, the writing bears the marks of not only a lucid mind but a courageous, honest and humble disposition.

The first half of his writings (3 chp) is devoted to his atheist past and his eventual conversion to theism, or deism to be more precise - growing up in a Christian home (his father a methodist pastor), witnessing anti-Semitism in the wake of WWII, indifference to things religious, involvement with the Socratic club at Oxford with Lewis and an educational path towards philosophy under the influence of Hume, Wittgenstein, Russell - that led to a prolific writing, teaching and debating career that made him arguably the most outspoken and systematic atheist thinker of the last 100 years. The turning point came in the last two decades when he began to read and take seriously the theistic claims that were bolstered by a strong revival of Christian philosophy. The works of David Conway, Richard Swinburne, Gerard Schroeder and Roy Varghese were among the most influential in this regard, persuading him to reconsider the growing scientific and philosophical evidence for the theistic position.

The second half (7 Chp) outlines the major arguments that led to his shift. He points out that the proposition at hand belongs properly to the realm of philosophy, contra Dawkins who mistakenly thinks science per se holds the answer to this inquiry. He exposes Dawkins and his ilk as in fact very unsophisticated in their philosophical argumentation, however accomplished they are in the field of science.

The three key arguments for theism that have the greatest purchase for him were:

1. Origin of the laws of nature (the rational order/design)
2. Origin of the Universe (matter)
3. Origin of Life (autonomous agency)

The major objections or alternative explanations for the above such as the multiverse theory, spontaneous abiogenesis, Darwinian natural selection were discussed and shown to be sorely inadequate and for the most part speculative.

The introduction by Roy Varghese and the two appendixes are helpful in extending the readers' mind in considering Christian theism. Varghese basically counteracted the rhethorical waxing by the proponents of the 'new atheism' - Dennett, Harris, Dawkins which was shown to bear more heat than light, more verbal rhetoric than sound reasoning. They take aims at the abuses of organised religions than deal with the rational arguments as such. Varghese added his own take on the theistic argument such as the origins of consciousness, conceptual thought and the self, which cannot simply be waved away with the 'magic of huge numbers' and other conjuring tricks.

Flew's interview of NT Wright completes the book's thesis for the Christian truth claim. Wight shows how in 5 ways, Jesus embodies the Jewish concept and anticipation of God's return/presence in the world (as Word, Wisdom, Law, Temple and Spirit).He also shows how the twin facts of the empty tomb and resurrection appearances buttress the Christian historic claim for the bodily resurrection of Christ. Flew considers this argumentation by Wright to be 'fresh and very powerful'.

All in all, I enjoyed the book for its lucid expression and personal style. On a personal note, I find it a pity that Flew took so long to come to this point. At the risk of psychoanalysing him, I wonder if his coming to terms with the divine revelation as something to do with the negative experiences of poor Christian showings (anti-semitism and the like) in his early formative years. Be that as it may, it shows that the best of unaided human reason and observations can only come this far -a belief in the god of the philosophers. Pascal's wager aside, I had hoped that he would find the presence of mind in his golden years to cross the bridge from an intellectual assent on the Aristotelian god to a personal faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, who has made himself known in the face of Jesus, his Son. Alas, Flew passed away earlier this year. But this book may be his best, lasting legacy that caps off an illustrious career in philosophy.