The evidence for design runs so deeply throughout the universe, from physics to cosmology to DNA and biochemistry, that Professor Antony Flew, the 20th century’s most influential atheist thinker, renounced his atheism.
Flew, a leading proponent of atheism for over fifty years, declared that the existence of a Creator is required to explain the universe and the complex life in it. He recounted his conversion in a book entitled, There is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.
‘Follow the Evidence Wherever It Leads’ was his lifelong motto. By doing this, based on reasoned analysis of the latest scientific findings, he came to the following conclusion:
I now believe that the universe was brought into existence by an infinite Intelligence. I believe that this universe’s intricate laws manifest what scientists have called the Mind of God. I believe that life and reproduction originate in a divine Source.
Why do I believe this, given that I expounded and defended atheism for more than a half century? The short answer is this: this is the world picture, as I see it, that has emerged from modern science. Science spotlights three dimensions of nature that point to God. The first is the fact that nature obeys laws. The second is the dimension of life, of intelligently organized and purpose-driven beings, which arose from matter (non-life). The third is the very existence of nature.
These three main arguments – namely: (1) that nature obeys laws, (2) that intelligent life has emerged from nothing, and (3) that the universe is finely tuned to support life – compelled Flew to admit the need for an Intelligent Creator.
“Biologists’ investigation of DNA has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life, that intelligence must have been involved.” - Antony Flew.
“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.” - Antony Flew.
