World-Famous Atheist Convinced by Science That God Exists
Faris Jawad
By Denyse O'Leary
An eminent British philosopher-a key champion of atheism for more than fifty
years-announced late last year that he has come to believe that there really
is a God, on account of the intelligent design of the universe and life
forms.
Antony Flew, who became an atheist at 15, debated at Oxford in the 1950s. He
promoted atheism through prestigious works such as his landmark 1984 book,
The Presumption of Atheism.
His thesis was disarmingly simple: Most people assume that God exists, and
therefore that the atheist must prove otherwise. Flew reversed the onus. He
claimed that there is no evidence that God exists. Therefore, the religious
believer must prove that there is a God.
Over time, Flew became a very successful atheist.
Overall, he wrote ten books against belief in God, as well as many other
works. His works were among the most widely reprinted in all of philosophy.
One thing that helped him was that many people assumed, without really
looking into it, that science evidence suggested that God does not exist.
So why did he change his mind when he was eighty-one years old? Not because
he fears the eternal consequences of a lifetime spent promoting atheism. He
insists that he still doesn't believe in heaven or hell.
Rather, Flew was convinced by modern science findings.
He was amazed by the language that is written into the DNA of every cell of
each of our bodies. He said, "What I think the DNA material has done is show
that intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinarily
diverse elements together. The enormous complexity by which the results were
achieved look to me like the work of intelligence."
Flew discovered that a number of scientists and philosophers believe that
the universe and life forms show scientific evidence of intelligent
design-this is called the intelligent design hypothesis. At any rate, Flew
began to think seriously about intelligent design in 2000. By 2003, he was
actively corresponding with other philosophers about it.
Darwinism or Design?
The alternative to intelligent design is Darwinian evolution or Darwinism.
According to Darwinism, life forms develop from amoeba to man by chance
mutations, without any design or any need for God.
Flew put all the design arguments to Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins, who
is well known not only for his defence of Darwinism but for the promotion of
atheism on account of Darwinism.
And, according to Flew, Dawkins-an expert in Darwinian evolution-was not
able to answer his objections based on intelligent design. Finally, in early
2004, Flew admitted to American Christian philosopher Gary Habermas that
there must be a God. His change of mind became public later in the year, as
the result of an interview released by the philosophy journal Philosophia
Christi.
Flew makes very clear that he has not become a religious believer in any
conventional sense. He thinks that God ". could be a person in the sense of
a being that has intelligence and a purpose, I suppose." In reality, he
believes only that God created the universe.
But let's not discount the importance of that admission. It means that Flew's
life-and yours and mine-have a meaning and purpose that go beyond our own
feelings at any given time. We are here because God intended us to be here.
That makes a difference as we confront the tangled problems of our lives.
The best-known Muslim author who writes on this fiercely controversial topic
is Dr. Harun Yahya. He has written several books that address divine design
in nature, notably Evolution Deceit (Istanbul: Arastirma, 2002) and Signs of
God: Design in Nature (Istanbul: Global Publishing, 2001). As Yahya notes in
his works, modern science knows vastly more today than in past centuries
about the intricate details of life. And the more we know, the less likely
any atheistic explanation seems.
This site based on the works of Harun Yahya.
http://www.allahexists.com/
Dean G.
ignorantiam (latin : argument from ignorance.) He simply cannot believe
that the diversity of life on Earth could have arose from evolution. He
doesn't offer much to support his views. On the other hand, Dawkins has
written extensively on the subject, and presents a far more cohesive
argument for his position in "The Blind Watchmaker." A simple search on
Richard Dawkins will find a large amount of his material available on
the web. Anyone interested in the debate should read what each has
written, and compare the logic of their arguments.
Dean G.