There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind | 
| Authors: Antony Flew, Roy Abraham Varghese
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 11479
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1 Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 222
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1
ISBN: 0061335290
Dewey Decimal Number: 212.092
EAN: 9780061335297
ASIN: 0061335290
Publication Date: November 1, 2007
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Product Description
In one of the biggest religion news stories of the new millennium, the Associated Press announced that Professor Antony Flew, the world's leading atheist, now believes in God. Flew is a pioneer for modern atheism. His famous paper, Theology and Falsification, was first presented at a meeting of the Oxford Socratic Club chaired by C. S. Lewis and went on to become the most widely reprinted philosophical publication of the last five decades. Flew earned his fame by arguing that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He now believes that such evidence exists, and There Is a God chronicles his journey from staunch atheism to believer. For the first time, this book will present a detailed and fascinating account of Flew's riveting decision to revoke his previous beliefs and argue for the existence of God. Ever since Flew's announcement, there has been great debate among atheists and believers alike about what exactly this "conversion" means. There Is a God will finally put this debate to rest. This is a story of a brilliant mind and reasoned thinker, and where his lifelong intellectual pursuit eventually led him: belief in God as designer.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 56 more reviews...
 How a world-renowned atheist decided he was wrong October 6, 2008
Anthony Flew. It was a name that so many either looked up to or reviled, depending on where you stood on the God vs. Atheist debate. Here was an atheistic scholar, stubborn as all get out, who had made one of the greatest impacts in his field during the latter half of the 20th century atheism. Then, after seeing more and more evidence come forth that chipped away at his position, he shocked the world (in 2004) by announcing that he no longer disbelieved in a god. Rather, as he talks about in the book, he moved over to a more Deistic position, even though he still rejects a personal god and miracles such as the resurrection.
And how the Atheists howled, as it is obvious from the blogosphere and reviews of this book on Amazon as well. Funny how things change. Regardless of which side you find yourself, reading this book is worthwhile because of its historical significance. It certainly is deeper in nature, and you have to have your philosopher's hat on, but Flew's perspective is certainly worth considering. Co-author Roy Abraham Varghese adds an appendix where he critiques the New Atheists such as Dawkins and Co., and there is a wonderful section in the appendix written by British scholar N.T. Wright. It's well stated and is also worth the price of admission.
Again, I suggest reading it for yourself, so I'll stop here. Let me add to the atheists who love to add comments to the reviews that I don't have time to play silly games writing back and forth in meaningless dialog that gets nowhere. I rarely check my reviews and see who's left what, so please don't be disappointed if I don't respond. I have people to see, things to do, and a life to live. Oh, and I've got shelves of books I am having a hard time getting to! Perhaps some of the complainers ought to write a self-published rebuttal that they will be able to sell to their friends (and very few others).
Go where the evidence leads September 19, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Those who claim that Flew doesn't address his own atheistic arguments and the even more outlandish claim that he didn't write most of the book are missing the point completely. The point of the book is not to give a point by point refutation of his previous works. It gives an overview of some of the works that lead Flew to his conversion. Through out the book, Flew talks about the books and other works that influenced his decision to convert, such as The Coherence of Theism by Swinburne, which the interested reader must then study. Flew mentions these works while sharing his personal testimony, and that is the purpose of this book.
Following Where the Evidence Leads. August 29, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
For those who are familiar with Anthony Flew and his work, this should be a very interesting book. Flew is a renowned philosopher who, for most of his life, argued clearly and (for many) persuasively against the existence of God. This book is the story of how he changed his mind and came to believe that God must exist. Flew's influence among atheists has been so strong that many of them have been scandalized by his change of mind. Some have gone so far at to allege that Flew did not write this book, is suffering from some sort of dementia (because of his age), and is being taken advantage of by others. I think that there is very little reason to believe these accusations unless you have a strong vested interest in atheism. An internet search on Flew's name and words like "dementia" or reading the other reviews on Amazon.com and the comments on them will give you details of the controversy.
The book is well written for the general reader and more of a story of Flew's intellectual journey than an apologetic work. In the first appendix, Roy Varghese responds directly to Flew's atheist critics. There is also a second appendix written by N. T. Wright giving a very interesting summary of his Christian approach to the question of how God reveals himself in the form of a human being who is resurrected after death. Flew does not seem committed to Christianity but says that Wright's approach is absolutely fresh and impressive. I agree. I highly recommend this book.
Flew's reasons for rejecting atheism August 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There have been some hysterical and ill-informed postings on various atheist blogs and websites about Antony Flew's rejection of atheism, and particularly his recent book There is a God (co-authored and edited by Roy Abraham Varghese - Harper One, 2007). Suggestions have been made that Flew is now senile and being exploited by Christians. 'Don't read this book!' shouts one atheistical blogger. Well, I have read the book, and I find it lucid and compelling. Much of it has been compiled by Varghese from Flew's published and unpublished writings and interviews, but every page has been checked and signed off by Flew himself, as he has made perfectly clear in print. I personally found some of Varghese's short editorial links a bit off for their jarring Americanisms, but they seem not to have bothered Flew. There are two appendices: one by Varghese himself and the other by Bishop Tom Wright, to whom I incidentally owe my own reconsideration of Christian claims. Both are excellent. Some critics have made a fuss about the cringe-making subtitle of the book, but that does not seriously detract from its value. I'm sure it was not Flew's choice, and I doubt that Varghese was responsible. Blame the publisher!
Two things can be added: firstly, Flew's dissatisfaction with Dawkins is long-standing. In Darwinian Evolution, published in 1984 when he was still a Vice President of the Rationalist Press Association (RPA), Flew described The Selfish Gene as a "major exercise in popular mystification", adding "Dawkins labours to discount or depreciate the main upshot of fifty or more years work in genetics" and he gives examples of this trend. In a further passage, Flew agrees with some trenchant criticisms of the book previously made by philosopher Mary Midgley (Gene Juggling, in Philosophy, October 1979 - see also her Selfish Genes and Social Darwinism in Philosophy for 1983). These paragraphs have been largely included in There is a God, showing that Flew's rejection of Dawkins's Selfish Gene hypothesis, echoed by many scientists and philosophers since it was first published, is not a new departure, but a long-standing, widely-shared and well-founded objection. They expose the fundamental flaws in Dawkins's theory, which undermine almost everything he has written since. His central dogma that "we are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" removes any possibility of personal responsibility - for anything. We are simply the puppets of our genes. What a perfect excuse for all malefactors, including child rapists and murderers like Ian Brady, Ian Huntley and Roy Whiting: "It was them genes what dunnit, Guv!" An excuse, perhaps: but hardly a comfort. Dawkins was properly rebuked on Irish television when he said: "I'm not interested in freewill." How could there be any such thing in his worldview?
A second point: Barry Duke, editor of Britain's atheist monthly 'The Freethinker', has informed me by email that he has met Antony Flew (presumably some time back - he doesn't say) and he insists - without giving any reasons - "The man's an idiot". It would be interesting to know whether this opinion is based on Flew's views and writings while he was still a Vice President of the RPA, and the most prominent atheist philosopher in Britain, or whether it is a knee-jerk reaction, based on Flew's more recent rejection of the atheism which he had espoused for almost half a century. Well, I can tell you, dear readers, that I have also met Antony Flew (only once, in 1996 at an Oxford conference where we each presented a paper, and then socialised afterwards), and I have also read - over a 40 year period - practically all his published work. I can assure you that the man was not an idiot then, and neither is he an idiot now; though his memory, at 84, is admittedly not what it was. I was, incidentally, a Director of the RPA from 1989 to 1998, as well as (briefly) President of the National Secular Society (1996-97).
C. S. Lewis would be pleased August 11, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is mostly a narrative account of the process that Antony Flew followed first to become an atheist, and then to become a believer in God. It even has an appendix chapter by a Christian apologist discussing philosophical reasons for belief in Jesus. Flew admits he does not go that far, but he is open as he has shown, to changing his mind.
The book is unusual on many levels. Not many people make drastic, even 180 degree changes in core philosophy past their twenties, much less into their eighties. Most people are pretty well set in their ways by that eightieth birthday or so. It is also remarkable because of the notoriety of Flew as a philosopher; he's not just some guy flipping pizzas who suddenly heard a voice- he's a guy who's thought about this a lot and for a long time. Finally it's remarkable just from the sheer span of years the history covers. Much of Flew's academic life overlapped with Lewis and other well known philosophers of bygone eras, but has continued right up to the present. The book explains some philosophy, not on any overly intricate level, but more as a complement to personal history where most of the philosophy is detailed only to the level necessary to explain his extraordinary change of view.
One thing probably bothering many reviewers is the ghost writer, but after all Flew is 84, and certainly isn't the first person, young or old, to have a writer. The other thing is probably the fact that a lot of the new developments in microbiology along with some of the work from Intelligent Design had a big (although not necessarily primary) role in Flew's metamorphosis.
I enjoyed much of the charm that carried over from his era. For instance he describes the courtship of his wife, noting that he never attempted to seduce her before marriage. I smiled at how arcane that sounded, although it was a sad, bittersweet smile.
In summary, the philosophical arguments in this book are meant to be illustrative more than comprehensive, but they are well written and worthwhile. The more important point is the life itself, and I hope that it is still a work in progress. In any case, it's a remarkable story and a remarkable life.
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