I think this video is also worth watching. This debate took place in 1998 when Anthony Flew was an atheist. I think it is also interesting to compare this debate with William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens debate that took place 11 year later: http://ex-atheist-blog.blogspot.com/2013/01/christopher-hitchens-vs-william-lane.html.
The subject of the debates was the same - the existence of God. They both began in the same way: William Lane Craig presented the same 5 arguments for God's existence. Neither Anthony Flew nor Christopher Hitchens were able to refute them. Hitchens could have prepared better for the debate with Craig since their debate took place much later.
It is also interesting to compare the attitudes of Anthony Flew and Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens's speeches were just full of attacks on religion and hatred. This is actually my impression of the so called new atheism: the new atheism is just hatred toward religion and nothing more than that. Flew was much more respectful and avoided attacks.
It is also important to notice that Anthony Flew eventually changed his views on God and left atheism:
Richard Dawkins was very unhappy at this:
Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most respected atheist thinkers of the 20th and early 21st century (his scholarly works on David Hume are still studied today, and his "presumption of atheism" argument is still used by atheists).
(From the description of Craig vs Flew debate)
No comments:
Post a Comment