can you tell me exactly what 'agonistic' means?? (hope i spelt that right!)?

Question

"agnostic," << thanks for pointing out spelling!!

and thanks for helpful answers :0)
needed to understand that a bit more...

Answer 1

A person who will believe in Divinity but not attribute it to a certain God; a person who sits on the fence and maintains the belief that perfect knowledge of who or what God is, is unknowable.

Answer 2

As a basic definition it means unknowing. It's a philosophy that states one can never have absolute knowledge of a god. Therefore, they cannot have definitive proof for or against a higher power. Many will say that they are fence-sitters who can't make up their mind. In reality, many agnostics can be strong atheists. They just admit the fact that they can never prove that there isn't a god. Since it's only a philosophy and not a religion, agnostics can be very diverse in their beliefs. Hence you get so many different answers when asking about it like this. It also makes certain people dislike agnostics because they assume they are unsure fencesitters when they may actually be strong atheists.

Answer 3

Yes, it means not being sure if there is or is not a God, it can actually refer to pretty much anything. You are not sure if you believe, but will believe if someone can show you proof of the thing you are doubtful about. Doubting Thomas, from the Bible, who would not believe it was Jesus until he put his finger into the holes left in his hands from the nails, now he was an agnostic until he put his finger in the holes, then became a believer, because tangible evidence was presented to him.

It is most definitely NOT an athiest.
from an agnostic

People like Daniel R seem to believe it relates only to religion, it relates to all things, just has been attached to religion. Agnostics are not gullible.

Daniel R, agnostics do not know if they believe in God, hence agnosticism, they have not completely cut out the concept of him being real, they are still undecided, the jury is still out.

Answer 4

An Agnostic is one who beieves in the existence of a supreme being and follows his/her OWN ways of worship. An Agnostic does NOT believe in following the tenets of ANY Organized religion because that person NEEDS no dogma nor intermediary to establish a working relationship with Deity.

More simply, an Agnostic beleives in God just not religion.

Raji the Green Witch

Answer 5

Literally, it means that you don't know. In this broad sense, you can be agnostic about almost anything. When people say they're agnostic, however, they usually mean about the existence of God. They come in two flavours: those who say they simply don't know if God exists, and those who say that it's actually impossible to know for certain.

I would add that as agnosticism is about knowledge, and theism is about belief, the first can be seen as orthogonal to the atheism-theism continuum. In other words, agnosticism isn't just the space in-between theism and atheism, it's a separate issue.

In this sense, anyone who says they believe very strongly that God exists, but accepts that they don't know for certain, is both a theist and an agnostic, and you can have varying degrees of both.

Of course, in this sense, the vast majority of people are agnostic, so it becomes a rather trivial label. Probably most people who label themselves as agnostic mean in effect: "I don't know (or can't know) if there's a God, so I don't profess belief either way," or: "I don't know (or can't know) if there's a God, but my instinct suggests that there is(n't)."

Answer 6

Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God is impossible to be known or proven. The word “agnostic” essential means “without knowledge.” Agnosticism is a more intellectually honest form of atheism. Atheism claims that God does not exist – an improvable position. Agnosticism argues that God’s existence cannot be proven or unproven – that it is impossible to know whether God exists. In this concept, agnosticism is correct. God’s existence cannot be empirically proven or disproven.

Answer 7

It's actually spelled agnostic. It refers to a person who believes that it is impossible to know one way or the other whether God exists.

Strictly speaking, it is possible to be an agnostic theist - in other words, to say "We can't know that God exists, but I believe he does". However, for the most part agnostics don't believe in God.

Answer 8

If you meant "agnostic," no you didn't spell it right. Those are the folks who insist knowledge of god(s) is impossible one way or the other.
If you meant "agonistic," then you're using an old term for folks who have the blues, or are in the process of kicking the bucket.

Answer 9

They may even claim to be agnostic. Likely you have heard that term. It refers to a person who feels “that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob[ably] unknowable.” Biologist Thomas H. Huxley, a 19th-century proponent of Darwinian evolution, first used the word “agnostic” in this way.

From where, though, did Huxley derive the term “agnostic”? Actually, he was drawing on an expression used in another sense by a first-century lawyer, the apostle Paul. It occurred in one of the most famous speeches ever. This speech is relevant today, for it offers us a sound basis for knowing how and when justice for all will prevail and, even more, how we personally can benefit from it.

If people appreciate that we are the progeny, or product, of God the Most High, it is only fitting for them to look to him for direction on how to live. You have to admire Paul’s boldness, as he stood almost in the shadow of the Acropolis. He courageously reasoned that our Creator is certainly grander than any man-made statue, even the gold-and-ivory one in the Parthenon. All of us who accept Paul’s statement must likewise agree that God is not like any of the idols worshiped by people today.—Isaiah 40:18-26.

This is not merely a technical point for one to accept mentally while continuing to live as before. Paul made that clear in verse 30: “True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance [of imagining that God is like a puny idol or would accept worship through such], yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.” Thus, as he built up to his forceful conclusion, Paul presented a startling point—repentance! So if we are looking to God for true justice, it means that we will have to repent.

God's name is Jehovah. Psalms 83:18

Answer 10

ag·nos·tic (g-nstk)
n.1.a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.
adj.

1. Relating to or being an agnostic.
2. Doubtful or noncommittal: "Though I am agnostic on what terms to use, I have no doubt that human infants come with an enormous 'acquisitiveness' for discovering patterns" William H. Calvin.

[a-1 + Gnostic.]
ag·nosti·cal·ly adv.
Word History: 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 them who 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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

ag·nos·tic n.
1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not disbelieve nor believe.
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Agnostic Meaning and Definition.
(a.) Professing ignorance; involving no dogmatic; pertaining to or involving agnosticism. (
n.) One who professes ignorance, ...
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