THE POWER OF ONE—JUST ONE
The historic Warren-Flew debate on the existence of God occurred on four consecutive September nights during America’s Bicentennial year of 1976. Conducted on the campus of what was North Texas State University (now University of North Texas), the event attracted nightly audiences of several thousand. Some attendance estimates have been as high as 9000 for one evening of the debate.
The Warren-Flew debate is considered by some as the most devastating defeat suffered by atheism in the 20th century—likely including earlier centuries. Dr. Antony Flew was recognized as one of the most highly acclaimed philosophical atheists of his time. Flew died in 2010. Dr. Thomas B. Warren was a great preacher of the gospel of Christ and a brilliant philosopher. He passed away in 2000.
The philosophical world was shocked in 2004 when Flew “announced to the world that he now believed in God . . .” (Varghese, Roy Abraham, “Dr. Thomas B. Warren and Antony Flew’s Farewell to Atheism,” The Warren-Flew Debate 40th Special Anniversary Edition 283). Roy Varghese co-authored with Flew the book, There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind (2007). In the 40th anniversary edition of the Warren-Flew debate, published by Warren Apologetics Center, Varghese briefly summarizes the impact of this in the following:
. . . Dr. Warren . . . pioneered the process . . . Strikingly, in 2004 Tony reversed the two key positions he had emphatically defended in his 1976 debate with Dr. Warren—the eternity of the universe and the origin of life from non-life. He now held that the universe had a beginning and that the origin of life could only be explained as springing from the Source of all life. The train of thought launched by Dr. Warren over two decades ago had finally reached its destination! (285)
In the debate, Warren advanced three sound, powerful, and precisely formulated affirmative arguments in proof of his proposition: “I Know That God Does Exist.” The major premise of the first of Warren’s affirmative arguments is as follows: “If there is even one characteristic, attribute or property of even one human being which could have come into existence only by the creative power of God, then that one human being constitutes proof that God does exist.”
As he proceeded to explicate this first argument, Thomas B. Warren powerfully stated: “Notice I am talking about one human being. I am an empirical fact. I exist, and there are things that I know about myself that nobody else knows. There is at least one characteristic, attribute or property of at least one human being which could have come into existence only by the creative power of God. Therefore, that one human being constitutes proof, when the evidence is recognized and reasoned about properly, that God does exist” (135, emp. added).
Oh! The power and value of one—just one! When it comes to the proof that God does exist, one—just one—sufficient evidence from one human being, reasoned about properly, proves the existence of God! The power and value of one is seen in many areas of life: One link in a chain; One brick in a wall; One shingle in a roof; One letter in a word; And, one human being in the world—just one—proves God!
The power and value of the truth of “just one” is seen in the Bible in numerous individuals: Noah, Abraham, Job, Moses, Ruth, David, Esther, Daniel, Joseph, Mary, Andrew, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, et al. The Master Teacher taught that one—just one—is more valuable than the whole world (cf. Matthew 16:26): One sheep; One coin; One child (Luke 15:1-32). One student to teach (cf. John 3:1ff; 4:1-26; Acts 8:26-39, et al.). I remember Dr. Warren teaching us in graduate school that “it is an awesome thing to teach the Bible—the gospel—to one person” just one! Edward Everett Hale wrote:
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the
Something that I can do.
One woman—just one—did one thing for Jesus a few days before He died. What she did is remembered wherever the gospel is preached (cf. Matthew 26:6-13). One person—just one—praying fervently avails much (cf. James 5:16-18). Oh, the power and value of one—just one!
The hour is late. Much is at stake. You are just one, but one is powerful and valuable. It still remains the case, as William F. Buckley, Jr., said in 1951 in his book, God and Man at Yale, that “the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world” (xvi).
Cast your vote. Use your voice. Speak before it’s too late. Stand up for human life, for religious freedom, for the nuclear family, for traditional, historic American values that are anchored in the Judeo-Christian system of truth and rationality revealed in the biblical worldview. You are one, and one is powerful and valuable!
Charles C. Pugh III
Executive Director