He always claimed he would "follow the evidence where it leads" and now that commitment has led one of the worlds most famous atheists to accept that there must be a God. AP is reporting:

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.

Good. An honest seeker of truth. Well, almost. As much as I argue that theism is more reasonable than atheism and that scientific evidence overwhelmingly points toward a designer of the universe, I also am convinced that the evidence supports more than that. I think there is very good reasons to believe Jesus was and is God and that traditional (orthodox) Christianity is the one true religion. Flew has not followed the evidence that far yet:

Flew said he’s best labeled a deist like Thomas Jefferson, whose God was not actively involved in people’s lives. "I’m thinking of a God very different from the God of the
Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are
depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, cosmic Saddam Husseins," he
said. "It could be a person in the sense of a being that has
intelligence and a purpose, I suppose."

Look at what he is saying here. Flew does not reject Islam and Christianity because there is no evidence for them (supposedly his criteria for truth) but because he does not like them. He doesn’t want to believe in a God who is a despot. It is not that there is no philosophical possibility of God being a  "cosmic Saddam Hussein,"  it is that  Flew can’t worship one.

Now I am not saying that God is a despot. I am saying that to reject a notion of God as a despot because of our likes or dislikes is the wrong approach. The number one question to ask of any theological assertion is not "Do I like it?" but "Is it true?" If God is in fact, a despot, we need to face that reality. If, in fact, God only accepts into his paradise those that pilot planes into tall buildings, then wouldn’t the prudent thing to do be to start flight training? Or, if, in fact, God came to earth as Jesus Christ and only lets into his paradise those that follow him in faith, wouldn’t the smart thing to do be embrace Jesus?

Flew’s open mind and willingness to follow the evidence has led him part way along the path to truth. From his statements, it looks like he might be closing that mind now. I hope not.

UPDATE: Here is a good article on faith and reason.

 

Don Johnson Evangelistic Ministries