The greatest of enigmas

turzovka

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Nov 20, 2012
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Stranger than fiction to me is a prevalence of atheists who possess a material degree of intelligence. Perhaps if they have been reading these past few years they would be aware that the world’s most famous atheist (of scientific or intelligence label) changed is mind rather dramatically. Below is only the very opening of a long interview he granted to some publications. But that is enough. It explains all that need be said. There cannot be life without intelligent design. And I say: there cannot be atheism without egotism and vanity. Most of us cannot accept someone telling us black is white, no matter how many degrees they have attached to their name.


How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind | Strange Notions

For the last half of the twentieth century, Antony Flew (1923-2010) was the world's most famous atheist. Long before Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris began taking swipes at religion, Flew was the preeminent spokesman for unbelief. A couple months before the book's release, Flew sat down with Strange Notions contributor Dr. Benjamin Wiker for an interview about his book, his conversion, and the reasons that led him to God.

Dr. Benjamin Wiker: You say in There is a God, that "it may well be that no one is as surprised as I am that my exploration of the Divine has after all these years turned from denial...to discovery." Everyone else was certainly very surprised as well, perhaps all the more so since on our end, it seemed so sudden. But in There is a God, we find that it was actually a very gradual process—a "two decade migration," as you call it. God was the conclusion of a rather long argument, then. But wasn't there a point in the "argument" where you found yourself suddenly surprised by the realization that "There is a God" after all? So that, in some sense, you really did "hear a Voice that says" in the evidence itself "'Can you hear me now?'"

Antony Flew: There were two factors in particular that were decisive. One was my growing empathy with the insight of Einstein and other noted scientists that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated complexity of the physical Universe. The second was my own insight that the integrated complexity of life itself—which is far more complex than the physical Universe—can only be explained in terms of an Intelligent Source. I believe that the origin of life and reproduction simply cannot be explained from a biological standpoint despite numerous efforts to do so. With every passing year, the more that was discovered about the richness and inherent intelligence of life, the less it seemed likely that a chemical soup could magically generate the genetic code. The difference between life and non-life, it became apparent to me, was ontological and not chemical. The best confirmation of this radical gulf is Richard Dawkins' comical effort to argue in The God Delusion that the origin of life can be attributed to a "lucky chance." If that's the best argument you have, then the game is over. No, I did not hear a Voice. It was the evidence itself that led me to this conclusion.
 
Stranger than fiction to me is a prevalence of atheists who possess a material degree of intelligence. Perhaps if they have been reading these past few years they would be aware that the world’s most famous atheist (of scientific or intelligence label) changed is mind rather dramatically. Below is only the very opening of a long interview he granted to some publications. But that is enough. It explains all that need be said. There cannot be life without intelligent design. And I say: there cannot be atheism without egotism and vanity. Most of us cannot accept someone telling us black is white, no matter how many degrees they have attached to their name.

I disagree. There cannot be certainty without egotism and vanity. To consider one truly knows whether there is intelligent design or not is pure ego. To consider one understands the nature of the designer is vanity on a monumental scale.
 
I disagree. There cannot be certainty without egotism and vanity. To consider one truly knows whether there is intelligent design or not is pure ego. To consider one understands the nature of the designer is vanity on a monumental scale.

I'll bet you the apostles understood who the designer was without one ounce of vanity or egotism.

I'll bet you many saints did also who were granted glorious revelations.

I also will tell you that God has revealed Himself at Fatima and Zeitoun Egypt and in the Shroud of Turin.

That is, if we are interested in knowing more than just He exists. Surely He is interested in sharing more with His creation than just that.
 
I disagree. There cannot be certainty without egotism and vanity. To consider one truly knows whether there is intelligent design or not is pure ego. To consider one understands the nature of the designer is vanity on a monumental scale.

I'll bet you the apostles understood who the designer was without one ounce of vanity or egotism.

I'll bet you many saints did also who were granted glorious revelations.

I also will tell you that God has revealed Himself at Fatima and Zeitoun Egypt and in the Shroud of Turin.

That is, if we are interested in knowing more than just He exists. Surely He is interested in sharing more with His creation than just that.

I'm sure you would bet. However, that does not change my statement.
 
Most of us cannot accept someone telling us black is white, no matter how many degrees they have attached to their name.

Actually, its god-believers who see black, are told its white and nod their heads up and down in agreement that black is white.

I'll bet you the apostles understood who the designer was without one ounce of vanity or egotism.

Information seeking question: Did they believe Jesus was magic or that he was a messenger of someone who was/is magic?

Jesus was a teacher and a prophet who was killed for very secular reasons. At what point did he take on the mantle or rep of being a magic sky fairy? Or that his father was?

As to the premise of the op, that one convert should make everyone else convert. Nope. Doesn't do a thing for me.
 
Most of us cannot accept someone telling us black is white, no matter how many degrees they have attached to their name.

Actually, its god-believers who see black, are told its white and nod their heads up and down in agreement that black is white.

I'll bet you the apostles understood who the designer was without one ounce of vanity or egotism.

Information seeking question: Did they believe Jesus was magic or that he was a messenger of someone who was/is magic?

Jesus was a teacher and a prophet who was killed for very secular reasons. At what point did he take on the mantle or rep of being a magic sky fairy? Or that his father was?

As to the premise of the op, that one convert should make everyone else convert. Nope. Doesn't do a thing for me.


You have said nothing to refute the obvious, or lessen our incredulity. What faith you must possess!!
 

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