:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Friday, December 10, 2004 ::

The Product of a Hurricane in a Marble Quarry

The news that Antony Flew, a British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century, has "converted" to the intelligent design theory has stunned the scientific community.

This reminds me of an astute observation made by Mark Shea:

"It has always struck me as odd to point to the immense concentration of intellect, will, technology and energy it has taken to do relatively small things in the extremely specialized conditions of the lab and argue that this product of white-hot focus of ultra-controlling human intelligence is clear evidence that absolutely no intelligence was involved in the production of all the rest of the vastly more complex life we see around us. ... It's like taking years to build a tiny house of cards and then using this feat to say, 'There! This accomplishment shows the Capitol Dome was therefore obviously the product of a hurricane in a marble quarry.'"

It seems Flew finally understands how silly this argument really is. But you have to admit: the intensity of the religious faith that forms the foundation of modern atheism is truly astonishing. If only Christians clinged to our first principles with such conviction...

:: Karl :: 8:08:00 AM [Link] ::