Antony Flew evolved from an Atheist to a Deist. (Photo from www.deism.com)
Professor Antony Flew, born February 11, 1923, died April 8, 2010. He is survived by his wife, Annis, who he married in 1952, and by two daughters.
Antony Flew's father was a Methodist minister. However, Antony stopped believing in the God of the Bible while still a teenager. That is when he became an Atheist.
He spent most of his life as a strong proponent of Atheism. He wrote many books and took part in many public debates advancing the idea of Atheism. However, he always strongly believed in and practiced the Socratic principle of following the evidence wherever it leads. By doing so, in 2004 he evolved into a Deist.
There are some obituaries which give the false idea that Dr. Flew embraced the Abrahamic myth of intelligent design or creationism. It's important to clear that up. Antony Flew did not believe in the story of creation as told in the Bible or Koran. He believed in Deistic Intelligent Design which simply says the Universe is the product of a Supreme Intelligence. In his interesting book, There Is A God, Dr. Flew wrote, “The genetic message in DNA is duplicated in replication and then copied from DNA to
RNA in transcription. Following this there is translation whereby the message from RNA is conveyed to the amino acids, and finally the amino acids are assembled into proteins. The cell’s two fundamentally different structures of information management and chemical activity are coordinated by the universal genetic code.” As all code is intelligence dependent, from Morse Code to computer code, the code in DNA lets us know there is a Supreme Intelligence. This is far different from believing in the intelligent design claims found in the Bible and Koran.
The courage and convictions Dr. Flew exhibited by being willing to say he was wrong in his position as an Atheist, and to then openly embrace Deism, is a great example of integrity all people should appreciate.
Comments
"The courage and convictions Dr. Flew exhibited by being willing to say he was wrong in his position as an Atheist, and to then openly embrace Deism, is a great example of integrity all people should appreciate."
Actually, both deism and atheism are opinions - neither is right or wrong. The only way to determine whether something is actually correct or incorrect is through evidence. That's why court trials depend so heavily on evidence.
All evidence we've seen in all of human history indicates that natural phenomena have natural causes. And every mystery ever explained, was explained through natural causes. The nature of the stars, planets, Sun, Moon were all mysteries. In the absence of evidence and understanding, supernatural forces were blamed for earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning, disease, schizophrenia, epilepsy and on and on...
Now we've explained the diversity of species through natural means, and are left with a few more mysteries. History tells us where to lo
All creation myths "explain" mysteries and those put forth by "science" are no different. Darwinism would be laughable if it wasn't so absurd and dangerous. By turning nature into its own creator and demanding that all students everywhere be brainwashed into thinking they are animals, the scientific establishment has become responsible for some of the greatest attrocities of recent times. Things will only get worse as they become more antichristian and antisemetic in their policies. If you teach people that they are animals, isn't it hypocritical to imprison them for acting as such.
Wayne
I wonder, what would Dr. Flew have thought of pandeism? I don't know that he ever addressed that particular variation.
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