Theology and Falsification

Antony Flew, one of the 20th century's leading atheist philosophers and a recent convert to deism, is most famous for his short essay Theology and Falsification, which is considered to be one of the most widely read philosophical papers of the second half of our previous century.

In this essay Flew raises the question of whether or not religious beliefs can be disproved, and if they can not be disproved then what meaning can they be said to have.

I therefore put to the succeeding symposiasts the simple central questions, "What would have to occur or to have occurred to constitute for you a disproof of the love of, or the existence of, God?"

It is important to note that Flew was operating within the philosophical framework of logical positivism which holds that statements are rendered (by verification) either true, false, or meaningless.