The Lippard Blog: Alister McGrath scores a conversion for the other team

Friday, June 27, 2008

Christian theologian Alister McGrath, author of The Dawkins Delusion, managed to help persuade Norwegian astrophysicist Øystein Elgarøy that atheists had the better arguments. Elgarøy, formerly a liberal Christian, is now an atheist and a member of the Norwegian Humanist Association.

(Hat tip to DMB at the Talk Rational forum.)

Eamon Knight said...: Ooh, thanks for that link. As someone who has made a similar journey from conservative Xty through liberal to atheist, I found that story fascinating. Elgarøy was asking many of the same question I asked myself, during my t.o years.; June 27, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Sheldon said...: So is he now the atheist's Anthony Flew? At least we can see that he is not entering the twighlight of life and his change of thinking is not attributable to senility!; June 28, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Lippard said...: I wouldn't say he's the atheists' Antony Flew... that would have to be a mediocre but well-known theologian or philosopher of religion who converted from deism to atheism (remember, Flew didn't become a Christian), who couldn't remember what arguments he found persuasive in the deconversion, who had a book ghost-written for him by unethical atheists who presented it as an argument against Christianity. I think that would be approximately analogous...

There have been plenty of Christian-to-atheist conversions, including former ministers like Farrell Till and Dan Barker.

BTW, James Dobson's former on-air partner and colleague at Focus on the Family, Gil Alexander-Moegerle, broke with Dobson and wrote an expose, but I'm pretty sure he didn't abandon Christianity.; June 28, 2008 at 4:21 PM