Anthony Flew, as some of you may know, was one of philosophy's foremost defenders of agnosticism and atheism for the last 50 years or so. His article on theism and falsification is standard reading for philosophy students.

You may also know that he became a Deist a few years back. Apparently, he is writing a book about the topic:

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9...God/index.aspx

There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind

Well, atheism does take an enormous amount of "faith" to maintain - too much for anyone really. Something about something arising from absolute nothing and the like...or eternally existent...stuff?

Except he doesn't believe in your god, or that we know anything about god. I think he is still no friend of yours.

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

Perhaps God will save him. Atheist or not, we all start out as enemies of God and others. In fact, no atheist is even truly an atheist at all. I meant quite literally what I said when I wrote that it's too much "faith" for anyone really, because what we as fallen people tend to do is simply suppress the truth. We can claim to be an "atheist," but that doesn't mean our claim about ourselves is true, even if we have managed to get outselves to "believe" that we are telling the truth through self-delusion. I believe this spiritual/psychological suppression certainly takes a toll upon the soul. You can find out more about this in Romans 1. In any event, God may yet save this man as he has done with others. It would be curious to hear what some who oppose Christianity would say if that happened and how it might be spun, although that's not what matters. What matters is that God is glorified and that people become saved.

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You can't even see what a nasty piece of work you are.

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

Honestly, it takes no faith at all, and it's stupid to say so.

I was raised in a nonreligious environment, not an atheist one. Religion had no value at all, not good and not bad, so there was very little emotion behind it. Rather, my parents taught having personal sets of ethics that were related to their cultural background. Anyway, I started to read about religion from a pretty young age for it's "comic book" like action, then for the philosophy, and finally so that I could understand the psychology of the religion believer from a cognitive behavioral perspective.

For me, hearing about the "Jewish God" or the "Hindu Gods" has about as much impact on me as when you hear about Zeus or some Amazon fertility god. I'm sure that it takes you no effort to NOT believe in Zeus, correct?

If you really don't believe in something you feel nothing much, but I can understand the seduction involved in the positive love religions, as who wouldn't want that (see next section for who wouldn't), and the greed religions obviously appeal to the self-serving. These factors and many more could easily jump start the religious thought process.

Well, while certainly not pretty, this is nonetheless more like an honest statement within the bounds of acceptable dialog, unlike TheAdlerian's gratuitous insult, and I am genuinely curious to know why you have said this based on my post(s). After all, some of us who are now Christians were also once hostile to the faith and may also have held certain misimpressions about those who claimed it (and perhaps a whole lot of correct unpretty impressions of some, too, unfortunately).

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I was simply explaining facts about my life and perspective, as always.

In fact, I pity people raised in religious envirnonments.

Well I do admire your uncharacteristic ability to take criticism of your faith so explain your use of the term 'saved'. To me it is an archaic and extremely loaded phrase that religious people should avoid as much as some cultures should avoid the use of the term 'program'.

Anthony Flew's conversion to theism has nothing to do with Christianity and it certainly doesn't give any credence to some mythological metaphysical 'program' whereby humans are divided between purgatory and everlasting bliss based upon some casually held temporary beliefs they might hold over the coarse of some 80 years of most often uncomfortable and inconvenient life.

Flew's beliefs I can understand and have no issue with. He doesn't advocate damning 75% of humanity to everlasting hell. If you subscribe to those beliefs then you are in my opinion nasty and brutish.

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

The best theist that I ever read, if he indeed was one, was Spinoza. He gave an amazing and interesting explanation of what and how god fits into things. As an atheist, which he was accused of being, I cannot disagree with one word he said.

He was a genius.