In 1950 Anthony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his renowned widely-published essay “Theology and Falsification.” He has been a professor of philosophy at the universities of Keele, Oxford, Aberdeen and Reading and published more than 30 books.

Flew made the news in 2004, mainly in the UK, when he announced he was no longer an atheist. Flew had earlier made the limelight by publicly “debunking” the existence of God. His philosophical view had been “to be an atheist until evidence came up to convince me that there was a Creator God.” As he tells his life story in this very well-written book, it was not religious experience that changed his mind. Instead reason convinced him he had been wrong. Of course, militant atheists screamed and howled at his change. But he makes it very clear that reason alone was enough. He is now a deist (but some wrongly call him a theist who had a conversion). At the end he says, “The discovery of phenomena like the laws of nature has led scientists, philosophers, and others to accept the existence of an infinitely intelligent Mind. Some claim to have made contact with this Mind. I have not – yet. But who knows what could happen next? Someday I might hear a Voice that says, ‘Can you hear me now?’”

Among the strengths of this book is the excellent Preface that sets the stage for his journey from atheist to deist. Appendix A (by Roy Abraham Varghese – The “New Atheism”: A Critical Appraisal of Dawkins, Dennett, Wolpert, Harris and Stenger – is a superb addition to the book. Appendix B – The Self-Revelation of God in Human History: a Dialogue on Jesus with N.T. Wright – is 95% Wright and 5% Flew. Wright did not convert Flew to Wright’s orthodox beliefs. Reason in religion– an important part of the Methodist Quadrilateral – is very well described as by Anthony Flew. This book has my strong recommendation.