whats the difference? both dont believe in God in right? so......whats the difference?
2006-08-18 10:20:46 · 26 answers · asked by nena 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Athiests deny the existence of God.
Agnostics claim there is a higher power, but don't ascribe to one belief.
2006-08-18 10:25:18 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. A 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe in god. Agnostics question whether or not god exists, but they don't flat out say there is no god. That's the difference.
2006-08-18 17:36:31 · answer #2 · answered by i luv teh fishes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agnostics are dishonest Atheists. An Atheist doesn't have a belief that a god exists. Atheist is a misnomer though, it should be Non-Theist, the Agnostic similarly doesn't hold a belief that a god exists, but masks his atheism in apathy to avoid persecution from believers.
2006-08-18 17:25:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheists do not believe in the existence of God. Agnostics as defined by T.H. Huxley (a contemporary of Charles Darwin) is one who does not profess to believe in something that cannot be proven.
An agnostic's position regarding God would therefore be: "I choose to neither believe nor disbelieve in the existence of God"
2006-08-18 17:34:24 · answer #4 · answered by spindoccc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An atheist doesn't believe in gods, an agnostic says they cannot reach a conclusion as to whether gods exist or not.
2006-08-18 17:26:09 · answer #5 · answered by Skymir 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Agnostic = open-minded Athiest
Athiest = Closed-minded Agnostic
2006-08-18 17:55:57 · answer #6 · answered by Guvo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe in god. Agnostics neither believe or disbelieve in god...they are waiting for proof of existence or non-existence.
Put me in the Agnostic bin :-)
2006-08-18 17:26:34 · answer #7 · answered by The ~Muffin~ Man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some agnostics do believe in god. They're known as agnostic theists. What that means is that they don't think it possible to prove anything about god, but believe nonetheless.
Formally, agnosticism is not a position of belief or disbelief in gods, it's a position that gods are not knowable. Atheism simply implies nonbelief in gods, which may include (but not necessarily) belief in the nonexistence of gods.
2006-08-18 17:25:29 · answer #8 · answered by lenny 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
An agnostic does not deny the existence of God and heaven but holds that one cannot know for certain whether or not they exist. The term agnostic was fittingly coined by the 19th-century British scientist Thomas H. Huxley, who believed that only material phenomena were objects of exact knowledge. He made up the word from the prefix a-, meaning "without, not," as in amoral, and the noun Gnostic. Gnostic is related to the Greek word gnsis, "knowledge," which was used by early Christian writers to mean "higher, esoteric knowledge of spiritual things"; hence, Gnostic referred to those with such knowledge. In coining the term agnostic, Huxley was considering as "Gnostics" a group of his fellow intellectuals"ists," as he called themwho had eagerly embraced various doctrines or theories that explained the world to their satisfaction. Because he was a "man without a rag of a label to cover himself with," Huxley coined the term agnostic for himself, its first published use being in 1870.
2006-08-18 17:33:33 · answer #9 · answered by trouthunter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists believe there is no god, and that when you die your body decomposes and that is it. Agnostics question that there might be a god and afterlife, they just don't have any real proof of it so they are unsure.
2006-08-18 17:28:48 · answer #10 · answered by In youth beauty & wisdom is rare 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No that is not right. Atheist don't belive in any divine power not just God. And agnostics belive that the exisistence of a god is uknown/unknowable so they are not saying he doesn't or does exist, or they belive in a god/gods but don't fall under any catagorized religion. Get it right.
2006-08-18 17:26:14 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋