Atheist Philosopher Has Taken a Small Step Towards Truth

By Mary Rettig
January 21, 2005
AgapePress

A lecturer with Answers in Genesis, a creation apologetics group, says a recent declaration of belief in intelligent design by a former atheist is a move in the right direction.

Antony Flew, a British philosopher who was a leading champion for atheism for more than 50 years, said in an article published last month that he has changed his earlier beliefs about the origins of the cosmos. He went on to explain that he now believes the universe was created by some sort of intelligent being.

Dr. Terry Mortenson of Answers in Genesis says Flew, who had previously subscribed to Darwinian theories of evolution and natural selection, cited one major reason for changing his tune. But now, the creationist points out, Flew has weighed the evidence for some of those ideas and found it wanting.

Mortenson says, ultimately, Flew said he was dissatisfied with "the arguments from science for the complexity of life," and had also determined that "the naturalistic theory of evolution for explaining the first reproducing organism is just unconvincing." Basically, the philosopher concluded that life is simply too complex to have just happened and, therefore, must have had a creator.

The Christian lecturer is pleased that the well-known former atheist now believes in intelligent design. But he says despite the realizations Flew acknowledged in his article, the philosopher cannot be called a creationist just yet.

"In this same article," the creationist notes, Flew fails to reject Darwinism, but rather states that he still "accepts Darwinian evolution and the origin of all the different species from a common ancestor. What he doesn't accept any longer is that the first living cell came into existence by chance."

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