Can Believers discern the difference between not believing in God and believing there is no God?

Question

The insistence that has arisen repeatedly in the last several minutes that Atheists believe there is no God is only half true. While there are many atheists who fit this description, this is not the definition of atheism.

Atheism is the ABSENCE of belief in any God. It means functioning in life without any such belief. Atheists can believe in humanity, in the grandeur of the universe, in love, friendship and interpersonal connections, or in natural processes. However, by definition, the only thing that binds atheists together is the LACK of belief in God.

What troubles do believers have in understanding the difference? I'm genuinely curious to know.

By the way, Agnosticism is the statement of lack of knowledge whether God exists or not, and does not state a belief either way. There are nuances of agnosticism embraced by some, either toward theistic agnosticism or atheistic agnosticism.

KENTCHATHAM:
A-Theism is from Greek, but it means "Without God" not "No God."

I studied Greek in College and in Seminary.

Answer 1

That is the definition, true, but many "atheists" on this site are adamant that there is no god and anyone who believes so is a fool.

I think they are having difficulty discerning the difference, as well.

Other atheists I have known have been much more reasonable and less insistent on putting down those who do not agree with them. I would think, after hearing so much criticism from rabid fundamentalists, they would be able to realize that their belittling of others is hypocritical.

Answer 2

Read the dictionary again, only this time in English. The definition of 'atheist' is 'one who believes there is no god'. Period. Any other self description of atheism is in contrast to the accepted lexicographical definition of the word.

Believing in a higher power is antithetical to atheism. You are talking out of yourass when you say that atheism just doesn't subscribe to a particular god. It means, by definition, that an atheist BELIEVES that there is no god, goddess, higher power, spirit, etc. If you believe any differently, then you are not an atheist.

Answer 3

The Believer's Attitude:
In order to be a Muslim, i.e., to surrender oneself to God, it is necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief - later on called "Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah" - is not enough. Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this, but that was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyyah one must add tawhid al'uluhiyyah, i.e., one acknowledges the fact that is God alone Who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being.

Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him, and should allow nothing to induce him to deny truth.

When faith enters a person's heart, it causes certain mental states which result in certain actions. Taken together these mental states and actions are the proof for the true faith. The Prophet said, "Faith is that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds." Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God which could be said to be the essence of 'ibada' (worship).

The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called 'kafir' which means 'one who denies a truth' and also 'one who is ungrateful.'

A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors, he is always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the Hereafter. He, therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with great humility. One cannot be in such a mental state without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the life force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.

The Quran tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the attributes of God very frequently. We find most of these attributes mentioned together in the following verses of the Quran:

"Allah is God; there is no God but Allah, Allah is the Knower of the unseen and the visible; Allah is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. Allah is the King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, the Guardian of Faith, the All-Preserver, the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller, the All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate! Allah is God the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Allah belong the Names Most Beautiful. All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Allah; Allah is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." (59:22-24)

"There is no God but Allah, the Living, the Everlasting. To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Allah knows what lies before them and what is after them. His throne comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; Allah is the All-High, the All-Glorious." (2:

Answer 4

Call me a special kind of stupid, but I honestly don't see the difference in not believing in God and believing there is no God. It's not really something I have pondered, until I read your question, and I still don't get the difference. Are you saying that you believe gods exist but you don't believe in the God? Or the opposite? I just don't get it...sorry. Not to hurt your feelings or anything, but I don't know one person who believes in God who spends one fraction of a second worrying about atheism and whether or not they do or do not believe in God or believe or not that there is no God.

Answer 5

it's only semantics I say I don't believe in a god or god does not exist so what don't you understand .... a fine tooth comb makes no difference to the bald or believers that can believe the most unreal things ever concieved by man .... fine tuned semantics don't budge gross misconceptions ...
peaceout

Answer 6

Sounds to me like a distinction without a difference.

Answer 7

i think that just not enough people know what Agnosticism is

Answer 8

I know, but then again im not religious. I worte the answer backwards just for fun.

Answer 9

atheism
from the words:

a theos (Greek)
NO God (English)

Answer 10

When it's worded like that....it sounds more like a mental illness than a belief. You make it sound like they have no choice.