There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Antony Flew, Roy Abraham Varghese Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
Book Review: The simplest answer to life's oldest question
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember seeing the headlines in late 2004/early 2005. One of the world's most famous atheists, Anthony Flew, had declared his belief in "a God". This was a major coup for the theists in the atheism versus theism battle. So, when I saw the book "There Is No A God" had been published, I had to get it. I had to see what new evidence had persuaded one of the most prominent philosophers of our time. Anthony Flew was an atheist for more than 60 years. He spent time debating Christian apologists (including presenting papers to C.S. Lewis. You may know that C.S. Lewis was, at one time a pretty staunch atheist before he became of the best known apologists for Christianity. I want to know what makes men like that tick; men who are willing to completely change their views on something as critical on whether or not there is a God based on reason and logic.
The subtitle of the book is "How the world's most notorious atheist changed his mind". The book begins at the beginning- talking about Flew's youth, his days in school and what led him to being an atheist in the first place. His father was a minister. So, he did not start off as an atheist. But, in his teens he had already decided there was no God. The book takes through his formation as an atheist and the reasoning that led him there. Early on in life, he decided to "follow the evidence wherever it may lead", which is a Socratic principle. When I made that commitment to myself a couple of decades ago, I didn't know it was a Socratic principle. But, I decided that I would pursue truth above all else, even if it led me away from Christianity. It's fascinating that the same commitment that led Flew away from being a theist over 60 years later brought him right back.
The book is written in language a layperson can understand. I've struggled to read some philosophers as they speak their own language and even seem to use their own logic. However, Flew and his co-author Roy Varghese speak in language the common man can understand. Flew's "religion" would probably be called Deism. He is not a Christian, even though he has acknowledged that the Christian argument for revealed religion is probably stronger than any other. Flew's religion is not "revealed" and is not based on either faith or personal experience. He came to the conclusion that there is a God simply based on logic/reason/philosophy although recent scientific discoveries (including the Big Bang theory) certainly helped. Actually, the core of Flew's argument, IMO is the fact that there is something rather than nothing. He goes on to talk about the fact that there seems to be a goal or a design to life, talks about the rising of the living from the non-living and the intelligent from the supposedly non-intelligent. In each case, he tells why materialism/atheism simply doesn't work to answer the questions that a simple acknowledgment of a Creator answers. IMO just the fact that there is something rather than nothing means that there has always been something because every effect must have a cause. Nothing exists completely independently of everything else. Materialists choose to believe the universe has always existed and have come up with some fanciful and intellectually dishonest ways of explaining how something can come from "nothing" (like "nothing" is unstable and kind of decays into "something") or the multiverse theory which attempts to explain the fine-tuning of the universe with the theory that there are an infinite or almost infinite number of universes. I've actually come to the conclusion it takes a lot more faith to be a true atheist (as opposed to an agnostic) than it takes to be a "believer". Some philosophers get themselves so twisted up that they begin to doubt the existence of their very selves and their own minds. As one philosopher said to another in the book some of their theories don't really require refutation. If they actually believe the stuff they say, they need help. If your philosophy causes you to doubt your own existence or the existence of your mind, it's time to put down the books and get back to the real world.
The description of Flew's journey from atheism to theism is followed by two appendices. The first is a refutation of the "new atheism" which is really a rehashing of materialism or positivism and is nothing new. The second is a defense of the divine relevation of Christianity. I didn't find this defense to be particularly strong and I'm kind of surprised Flew does. But, when it comes to believing in a Divine Mind, a Creator, a First Cause, I think Flew shows conclusively this is exactly where the evidence leads us. Whether one chooses to call this "God" or not is a matter of preference. But, there is sufficient reason to believe that the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being does indeed exist and to believe so doesn't require a great leap of "faith" or really any faith at all other than the faith to honestly follow the evidence where it leads.
Book Review: Nothing new
Summary: 3 Stars
I read this book with the idea that Antony Flew really had something new to add to things. I was wrong. And disappointed. The cosmological arguments for a deity - and not even a deity really but just some kind of intelligence that brought the universe into being, some kind of extraterrestrial something about which nothing else specific can really be said, are not, to me, compelling. And Flew's book does not make them any more compelling. I think the Deists were in a much better position in the old days before it was understood that organic chemistry did not involve some "vital essence" and there was really nothing other than some kind of supernatural/spooky basis for life and living things. But with that gone, explaining the fine structure constant and such is an exercise in "what ifs." One might as well believe in Star Trek's "Q" and that such beings made our universe for sheer boredom relief. Flew does OK rehashing the usual cosmological stuff but there's nothing really new here.Book Review: So a guy can't change his mind?
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great little book.
Tough going for one not involved the details of the controversy though - Flew hits the high points of the various arguments but I think I'm going to have to read a few of the materials he references to really get a handle on his point of view.
In any case, the controversy seems a tad amusing to me from afar. Flew simply changed his mind on the existance of god after many years of thought. This is just his short, interesting and well considered view of matters. The tone of some of the reviews is awfully strident. On the subject of god's existance no one's got a lock; as Randy Newman sang, "there ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy, there's only you and me and we just disagree."
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a very interesting book, depicting the journey of a confirmed atheist as he searched for evidence of the existence of God. He doesn't confess to having become a Christian, but finding evidence which he believes proves there is a God.
Highly philosophical this book is sometimes a bit hard to understand, but it worth the effort. It is a great book to share with other atheists as they will often take time to consider the musings of a peer.
Book Review: Flew is right.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book sure stirred things up. I,for myself, really enjoyed the book and thought it was both accurate and clear. So much of what is published as philosophy is sheer obsfucation. This book is easy to read and understand. Maybe that is why the intelligencia don't like it so much. It isn't patronizing nor obscure.