It is enlightening to read the testimonies of eminent academics who were once atheists, and learn what it was that caused them to do a U turn and embrace belief in God.
One of them was the British writer and intellectual, Francis Spufford, professor of creative writing at Goldsmiths College, London. His is an interesting case because he came to faith partly asa result of observing the difference in moral behaviour between atheists and Christians. He said that he lost his faith in atheism partly as a result of feeling that his secular circle was more judgmental and unforgiving than the church he and his atheist friends had mocked. It dawned on him that; despite not consistently living up to their ideals, Christians at least held the key to human acceptance and community. Christians were under no illusions; they had a profound belief in each other’s imperfection and guilt. However, they had an even deeper trust in God’s forgiveness. In this “league of the guilty,” as Spufford put it, no one had grounds for looking down on anyone else, and no one had any bragging rights. This highly attractive aspect of Christianity helped him become a practicing Christian. Spufford even married an Anglican priest, the Reverend Dr. Jessica Martin who, at the time of writing, is a canon at Ely Cathedral.
The other intellectual who became a Christian is, of course, Anthony Flew. It is difficult to do justice to the shock his conversion caused the atheistic world. In the late twentieth century, Flew was the front-runner making the philosophic case for atheism. He was their ‘thinker.’ So when he came to believe in the existence of God, it caused dismay and unbelief amongst atheists.
What I love about Flew’s story is the courage he displayed in seeking truth. He did not withdraw from debate with leading Christians, but sought out their thinking with the sincere objective of understanding it. So it was that in 2004, Flew became a theist.
The reason he gave for believing in God was the extraordinary ‘fine tuning’ of our universe that enabled it to develop sentient life. He said, “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.” Flew made it quite clear that he had come to his position, not because of fear of death in his advancing age, or because he had lost his intellectual faculties. Quite the reverse: he said that, “the journey to my discovery of the Divine has thus far been a pilgrimage of reason. I have followed the argument where it has led me. And it has led me to accept the existence of a self-existent, immutable, immaterial, omnipotent, and omniscient Being.”
Flew went on to say: “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. The third is the very existence of nature.”
So, there we have it: observations of morality and observations of scientific reality have caused intellectual atheists to believe in the existence of God.
