A prominent British philosopher, belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought. Flew was considered one of the most influential and committed advocates of atheism. Flew took the position that atheism should be presupposed until the evidence for God was presented. However, in 2004 he shocked the academic world by stating his allegiance to a belief in the existence of God, and authored the book “There is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind”.

In a published interview shortly after his conversion Flew stated that, “reason, mainly in the form of arguments to design, assures us that there is a God…and the most impressive arguments for God’s existence are those that are supported by recent scientific discoveries.”

Flew expressed his belief in God was the result of his “growing empathy with the insight of Einstein and other noted scientist that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated complexity of the physical Universe” and “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.

While Flew has continuously reaffirmed his belief in God, he has also stated that he is not a Christian convert, and his “God is not the God of any of the revealed religions.” But, Flew has stated, “since the beginning of my philosophical life I have followed the policy of Plato’s Socrates: We must follow the argument wherever it leads.” Indeed, it seems Flew is still following the evidence, for in his most recent book, he has allowed a chapter arguing for the historical resurrection of Christ. In addition, Flew joined eleven other academics in urging the British government to teach the scientific notion of intelligent design in state schools.