Flew's turn from atheism to theism in the light of the order argument

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Hossein Mahdavinejad 1
Samane Shahroodi 2
Aflaton Sadeghi 3
Abdul Reza Safari 4
1 Associate Professor, of Islamic Philosophy and Theology Department. Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
2 PhD student in Philosophy of Religion, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Theology Department. Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
4 Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Theology Department , Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30470/phm.2023.563114.2298
Abstract
After decades of passionately defending atheism, Anthony Flew finally made a turn in his thinking in the last six years of his life and turned to theism. He formulates his main reason in the form of an explanation of the order argument and with emphasis on new scientific findings, especially in the field of biology. In the first period of his intellectual life, by insisting on positivist and Popery approaches, Flew declares that theism lacks sufficient evidence and reasons.But in the second period, based on biological reasons and in the form of a presentation of the order argument, he turned to the defense of theism. Anthony Flew is one of the defenders of the order argument, who calls the order argument and new scientific findings among the reasons for his belief in theism. He emphasizes the new discoveries of DNA, the Big Bang issue, the new physical discoveries, and... in his theism. In this research, we have shown Flew's two periods of thought. We have also measured the strength of the argument of order in the interpretation proposed by Flew and its strengths and weaknesses. The coherent description and description of the above materials and their analysis in an analytical way is the main topic and concern of this article.
Keywords
Atheism
theism
order argument
Anthony Flew
Subjects
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Philosophical Meditations
Volume 15, Issue 35 - Serial Number 35
September 2025
Pages 211-237