Posted on 12/09/2004 1:15:38 PM PST by ZGuy
A very interesting read!
Flew is a philosopher and as such can choose to use different schools of thought to explore problems. He has the flexibility of being able to explore ideas of creation outside of the confides of scientific methodology. He can choose to believe in things using standards of his own selection. Atheists aren't all cut from the same block of wood, some of us have different philosophical backgrounds. I've read Flew would say that his acceptance of ID seems reasonable to his standards ( which have changed through the years) but not to someone who resides staunchly in the school of modern skepticism like myself.
He's probably gotten over hating the old man and being a smart guy realizes that calling oneself an atheist is really an untenable position.
Famous Atheist Now Believes in GodExcerpt:NEW YORK - A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God more or less based on scientific evidence, and says so on a video released Thursday.
At age 81, after decades of insisting belief is a mistake, Antony Flew has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a telephone interview from England.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
Well, he still is wrong!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1291515/posts
Want to try to convince some staunch followers of Morris and Ham about this?
Poor old fool. (From Psalms 14:1: The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.) Better he wised up late than never, but so what? He's a dime a dozen as an atheist: a little more valuable as a believer.
Bump!
Carrier assured atheists that Flew accepts only a "minimal God" and believes in no afterlife.
If I've got this straight, Flew thinks he needs God, in order to explain the existence of the complex Cosmos we've found ourselves in. But Flew also thinks that same God needs to be minimal.
Hmmmm....
Interesting. Ping for later review.
Maybe he's a "Frisbee-tarian" When they die their souls fly up on the roof and nobody can get it down. :^)
Actually, Flew is one of the most influential philosophers in the world.
This is really HUGE (no, I don't mean "hugh") news. He is part of the bedrock intellectual base for atheism. I think an earthquake just occurred. Many folks here just don't realize the immensity of this news. I'm not speaking of Flew's salvation, I'm talking about the whole world of ideas.
His comments about Intelligent Design will Phillip Johnson and company a tremendous boost. Morris and Ham may have lost a few points.
I love the line about "I don't thnk its a big deal". That's just a way of saying, "Move along, fellow atheists. Nothing to see here."
As to his not being a Christian, CS Lewis took years to go from atheist to idealist, idealist to theist, and lastly theist to Christian.
After all, it's all about the importance of being Antony, isn't it?
He waited until he was 81 to read Thomas Aquinas?
judge not
It doesn't explain how to install XP?
LOL
"It has become inordinately difficult even to begin to think about constructing a naturalistic theory of the evolution of that first reproducing organism," [Flew] wrote.
Current inability to explain a phenomenon scientifically does not imply that phenomenon's scientific inexplicability.
Professor Flew finds himself unable to explain the appearance of the first reproducing organism, and so he elects to posit the existence of a non-physical universal intelligence that (somehow) produced that organism (and, presumably, everything else). Either Flew has an exaggerated sense of his own intelligence ("If I can't explain it, it can't be scientifically explained!") or else he's lost a step or three in his judgment of the soundness of arguments (or both).
Flew is 81 years oldit's probably not that easy for him to micturate, either.
(Okay, that last bit was a snark, but, hey, I'm bored, and if I don't say something like that every now and then, I'm gonna have to forfeit my log-in name.)
Moral Absolutes Ping.
Facing the inevitability of imminent death certainly has a tendency to focus one's attention.
The reality is we should all feel that intensity.
I wonder if he'll live long enough to change his "opinion" about no afterlife?
Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.