Aren't atheists, agnostics? Isn't everybody agnostic? U can't prove God does or does not exist?

Answer 1

The term 'agnostic' was coined by Thomas Huxley and it refers quite simply to a person who holds the view that it is wrong to assert the truth of a proposition without logically satisfactory evidence.

So, an agnostic would say that it's wrong to say "God exists" or "No gods exist" without the argument or evidence to back it up. Moreover, the agnostic would say that it's immoral for a person to tell someone else that they *ought* to believe in the existence of a god or gods without providing logically satisfactory evidence.

A 'theist' is defined as someone who believes in the existence of a god or gods, so an atheist is anyone who is not a theist.

So, you can be agnostic and also an atheist, or agnostic and a theist, or not agnostic and an atheist, or not agnostic and a theist.

My view would be that most theists are not agnostics - they believe despite the fact that their beliefs are unjustified.

Answer 2

Agnostic seems like the one that has a background of devout god seeking and soul enhancement. It takes some time and lessons, an entire perspective. Then, later, life becomes the next meal, the next nap, the basics and the Agnostic says, "who cares about any of that i used to be into" but still cannot exist without religious structure so it becomes religion. A religion of there is nothing to prove. I think that is what distinguishes it from Athiesm.

Answer 3

2 points.
It would be silly indeed to go around worrying about the existence of the things you can't prove DON'T exist. For one thing the quest is illogical. But even if you undertook such folly, when would it end? if you don't believe me, start a list. God is on that list, but so is every other absurdity our feeble minds conjure up. And the only thing to distinguish a "god" from the other silly notions is how "strongly" people feel about it.

Lastly, while it may be impossible to disprove the existence of ALL gods and fairy tales, this may NOT be the case when one considers the most popular god in these parts - the god of Abraham. As soon as you insist that there is a personal god who intervenes in the life of humanity, then that god is in deep doodoo when it comes to his "existence."

For a good start on just why this concept cannot hold, you might try "God: The Failed Hypothesis" by the physicist Victor Stenger. It lays the basis for a scientific dismantling of any concept of god that has the characteristics of Mr. Jehovah.

Answer 4

There is no evidence to suggest a God exists, it is not necessary to disprove God to be able to deduce from the total lack of evidence that the likelihood of God's existence is so vanishingly small as to be non-existent.
So for me an atheist the odds of whether or not God exists are not 50/50 but more like a million to1...against, that's why I'm not agnostic.
Furthermore the likelihood of a particular God existing is way smaller still.

Answer 5

"Agnosticism" is ultimately just another a way of looking at things, just like atheism and theism. Everybody's an agnostic according to agnostics...lol. Theists base their universe on "faith" in fairy tales, and atheists base theirs on faith in a more or less "materialist" universe. Agnostics simply agree to suspend judgement, and the official position of agnosticism must be that the others have different criteria for "truth."

Answer 6

Agnosticism is a philosophy. There are theistic and atheistic agnostics as well as atheists and theists who are not agnostic.

Atheism, in general, claims there is no god, higher power, life after death, etc...

Theism claims there is a god (or gods), higher power, and/or life after death, etc...

Agnostic atheists and theists believe what they choose regarding religion and spirituality but do not believe it possible to know it to be true. They believe with their hearts, in a way, but realise the limitations of their minds.

Proof is relative to each person's personal definition of it. One can easily argue that the physical existence of a rock does not prove it exists or is, in any way, a rock, no matter how strong the impression of rockiness.

Think of the colour blue. What you experience as blue I may well experience as your idea of orange. Everything that looks blue to you may be orange to me but because we have learned the same labels for things we assume we experience them the same. The sky is blue. But is my blue your blue or is it your orange?

When I say a rock exists because it is grey, hard, and made of granite then I throw it at your head to further show its rockiness it is only proof if we both agree that its colour, density, composition, and lack of damage compared to your skull upon collision are, in any way, proof.

When we accept physical or tangible evidence as proof we do so because we believe our experiences of the physical and tangible are true. We can agree on it, we can do it over and over, but we can never prove our experiences to be true by these definitions.

We can really only ever believe blue is blue and rocks are rocks.

Likewise, we can no more prove or disprove our knowledge or capacity for it. When one person claims he knows God exists because of the miracle of birth, or he feels it in his soul we have no way of proving or disproving this. Nor can we prove or disprove another's knowledge that God doesn't exist because there is no proof and/or no way to prove or disprove it.

I don't believe in a god but I am not an atheist. I don't believe there isn't a god but I am not a theist. Nor am I straddling the fence just in case there is a god. I'm pretty sure that won't save me if it turns out belief is the key to salvation and there actually is something after death.

I simply don't know. I lack both the knowledge and the ability to attain it based on my definitions and experiences.

Answer 7

Definitions:
Agnostic : Not sure, undecided
Atheists : Sure that God doesnt exist and belives that. The proper definition of an atheist is one that practises so.

If you want some sort of proof look these up. The philosophical argument for Gods existence:

Teleological argument
Watchmaker argument
Ontological argument
Cosmological argument
Moral argument

Also see Pascal's wager for not exactly an argument, more of a "its good to belive in God cause if he exists you wont go to hell if you die" thing

Answer 8

Not at all. In fact, many people who believe themselves to be agnostic are, in fact, atheists.

Here's the 'classification' system I like to use.

If you believe the probability of God's existence is greater than 50%, you're a theist.

If you believe the probability of God's existence is exactly fifty percent, you're agnostic.

And if you believe the probability of God's existence is less than 50%, you're an atheist. Simple as that.

Answer 9

You cant prove that anything does not exist... but i guess i could be an agnostic since i admit i am unsure of what caused existence

Answer 10

No, the definition of Agnostic is someone who does not know whether their is a higher power, they don't deny it, but they don't confirm it either.
An Atheist will deny the existence of God fully