Don't be fooled by detractors within the "new atheism." From what I've read of Flew, both by those intrigued and those disinterested, he was of sound mind and his ideas deserve consideration.
(I've written elsewhere about how unbecoming the uncompromising anger is among atheists today; that was before I learned there was such a thing as "new" atheism and others were already well aware of it. It's some comfort to know that I could read Dawkins and listen to progressive debate and independently come to some of the same conclusions greater minds than mine have reached.)
The introduction promises a compelling perspective on Christianity by NT Wright, even though Flew himself, despite a "conversion" to deism, did not, as far anyone knows, accept the Christian perspective.
This is an excellent quote from the preface:
.. the excesses and atrocities of organized religion have no bearing whatsoever on the existence of God, just as the threat of nuclear proliferation has no bearing on the question of whether E = mc^2.
Just as we often overlook small bad ideas because we agree on one good big idea, so we often throw away one big good idea because we can't tolerate all the nonsense others have packed around it.
Started: 2012-06-30
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