Times Magazine Piece on Former Atheist Kicks Up Controversy

by Lynn Garrett, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/14/2007

In There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Antony Flew and Roy Varghese, published last month by HarperOne, British philosopher Flew—perhaps the highest-profile atheist of his generation—articulates his change of heart, first reported by the Associated Press in 2004. Now a Nov. 4 article in the New York Times Magazine, "The Turning of an Atheist" by Mark Oppenheimer, has generated lots of chatter in the blogosphere and a passionate response from the publisher. In the piece, Oppenheimer characterizes Flew as a senile old man being manipulated and exploited by evangelical Christians for their own ends. (In the book, Flew does not declare himself a Christian, but admits to now believing in "an intelligence that explains both its own existence and that of the world.")

"We were pretty upset and frustrated by the piece," HarperOne publisher Mark Tauber told RBL. "It's one thing to review, question and debate the arguments of a book, but Oppenheimer didn't do that—he went after the integrity of our author and our integrity. It seems like he just saw this as an opportunity to make a name for himself, and it was out of line." The 84-year-old Flew has nominal aphasia—a condition that affects his ability to remember names—said Tauber, "but Oppenheimer made the leap from that to senility and then implied that Flew didn't write the book." Tauber pointed out that ghost-writing is a ubiquitous practice in publishing, and said that Flew had thoroughly reviewed the manuscript and signed off on it as accurately representing his views.

HarperOne released a statement from Flew: "My name is on the book and it represents exactly my opinions. I would not have a book issued in my name that I do not 100 percent agree with. I needed someone to do the actual writing because I'm 84 and that was Roy Varghese's role. The idea that someone manipulated me because I'm old is exactly wrong. I may be old but it is hard to manipulate me. This is my book and it represents my thinking."