Flew

• Anthony Flew

  • 1923-2010
  • 'God and Philosophy' 1984
  • Looks at miracles from the view of an atheist (later changed his mind)
• Christianity points to a moment in history
• The life and teaching of Jesus- based upon historical evidence
• Key miracle for Christians: the resurrection of Jesus
• Flew wanted to establish whether the resurrection should be viewed as a historical event
• Flews summary

  • A factual approach is necessary in order for Christians to maintain the idea of the resurrection- through Jesus, God is revealed
  • If a miracle is historical, you have to establish truth in the criteria for all historical claims
  • This is a realist point of view
• Swinburne agrees with Flew

  • A factual approach is necessary for Christianity to maintain the idea of incarnation
• Problem

  • As soon as you insist that a miracle is historical, you are faced with all the normal criteria for establishing the truth of historical claims