Book Review: There is a God

This book has been out for a while - and I first read it way back when I was doing A-Levels, and also helping to lead the Christian Union at my school. This book was a bit of a lightening rod for apologetics then - because this was a book about (as the subtitle suggests) a change of mind from one of the most intellectual Atheists of recent history. If you are not aware, Antony Flew was one of the fiercest minds in philosophy, whose writing and thinking has influenced a generation of Atheists - and indeed theists too, as notable Christian apologist C.S.Lewis engaged with Flew, and there are echoes of response to his thought in Lewis' writings.


You can read more about Flew over at Wikipedia if you'd like, and its worth noting the controversy over the authorship of this book - I for one am fairly content that it is a work by Flew, though understand the various criticisms of the position that it is. I frankly think it would be pretty disgraceful to cajole an old man into writing a book - I don't think thats what happened here, I think this represents the final chapter in the story of one man honestly looking for truth. Bluntly, the fact that thinkers as distinguished as John Hick, Gary Habermas and Nicholas Wolterstorff lend their endorsements would to me prove the veracity of the books content and authorship.


This book, then, is a simple but fairly explosive volume dealing, in a semi-autobiographical style, with how a notable atheist decided that Theism/Deism was the more rational worldview. The book is the culmination of a series of thoughts, discussions and opinions Flew had held throughout his life - and it presents a superb set of points, arguments and thoughts about why there is, in fact, a God.


It's not strictly a book of evidence - its more a piece of narrative of how one of the finest minds of recent times thought through the evidence and ended up changing his mind in light of it. It's worth admitting that in this book Flew does not state he is a Christian - one hopes he found that truth after publication - but it IS a fairly damning indictment of the so-called rational nature of the New Atheists.


The book is fairly simply laid out, in two parts, the first explaining Flew's near-lifelong atheism, and the second entitled somewhat whimsically "My Discovery of the Divine". Throughout, it is clear that this is the product of a lifelong search for truth, I loved reading "as a professional philosopher I have changed my mind on disputed topics more than once". This is the mark of a man who thinks through what he believes, and is honestly more interested in the truth than himself. Would that this blogger and his readers be so thoughtful (I speak for myself there!). The book ends with two appendices - one is not that interesting, as its the co-author critiquing the New Atheists, whilst the other is (for some people!) a dream discussion - Flew in dialogue with N.T.Wright for the purposes of working out who Jesus is.


Flew closes this book by being open to the reality of Jesus. Flew lived a life of thinking through things, examining things, and following the evidence. In 2004 he was at a symposium where he and others discussed whether or not God existed - and concluded on the basis of developments in modern science that God very probably does. This book is well worth reading!