Atheist, Theist, or Christian?

Christianity Today has an interesting article in the April 2005 edition on Antony Flew. Flew, one of the world's leading philosophers, recently changed his mind about God, from being an Atheist to becoming a Jeffersonian Deist. He now believes in God as Creator, or Designer. He is careful to point out that he is not a Christian.

Here's what Flew says holds him back from Christianity:

1. He has an unshakable view against the supernatural. He believes that the laws of nature are so well established that he has no difficulty ignoring testimonies about miracles.

2. "He detests any notion that a loving God would send any of his creatures to eternal flames."

Another important distinction between Theism and Christianity is found in another Flew quote:
"Why should God be concerned about what his creatures think about him anymore than he should be directly concerned with their conduct?"

The question that occurred to me while reading this was, "How much has Theism influenced what some of us believe about God, and as a result affected our Christianity?"

• Do we believe and trust that God intervenes in supernatural ways? Today?
• Do we believe that God will punish as well as reward?
• Do we believe that God wants our worship?
• Do we believe that God is concerned about our conduct, about how we live our lives?

When we answer one or more of these questions in the negative, we move away from God as revealed in the Bible toward God defined by human logic. We move toward Theism and Atheism. We move away from hope.