Is it that atheists do not believe in the existence of a "God", and that agnostics might not believe but might be spiritual, or open to the idea of a God?
Thanks.
2007-09-21 12:01:25 · 16 answers · asked by Me 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Atheism is a position, agnosticism is a principle.
The term 'agnostic' was coined by Thomas Huxley and it refers 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 to support that claim.
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.
Therefore 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.
2007-09-21 12:12:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Arguably, using the allegedly most common meanings of the relevant words in 21st century English, an atheist believes there is no God and there are no gods, while an agnostic doesn't know and has no belief one way or the other.
But this is arguably misleadingly simplistic, because there's no general agreement on the meaning of the words 'atheist', 'agnostic', 'God', 'gods', 'belief', and even 'know' (for instance, does it mean 'know with absolute certainty' or 'know with practical certainty' or something in between? And of course there's no general agreement on the meaning of 'practical certainty'). And dictionaries are not much help, as this is one area where dictionaries are often deeply misleading.
So you're probably stuck with having to ask or guess what a given speaker/writer means by the terms, as well as explaining what you mean by them when you're the speaker/writer.
2007-09-22 02:22:50 · answer #2 · answered by tlhslobus 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pretty close. An atheist believes there is no such thing as a god or gods. An agnostic believe it is impossible to know whether there is a god or not. In my case, I do not believe in the type of anthropomorphic "god" that theists usually describe, but I am open to the possibility of metaphysical layers in the universe that might include a "goddish" entity or principle. But I don't use the notion as a moral compass or an afterlife plan.
2007-09-21 12:14:25 · answer #3 · answered by skepsis 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Atheists do not believe 'gods' exist; agnostics aren't sure.
Basically, agnostics are fence sitters but, if pushed, they'd land in the True Believers⢠patch of fantasy.
Agnostics are xians with enough intelligence to doubt but not enough courage to commit.
2007-09-21 12:40:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
An atheist is someone who does not believe in gods.
Atheism does not imply being closed to the possibility that there might be gods. An atheist is not (necessarily) someone who is 100% sure that there are no gods, or who believes that it's impossible for there to be any gods, or anything like that. We just don't believe that there are any.
The agnostics can speak for themselves.
2007-09-21 12:06:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
It is a hard thing for me to understand also. I am an atheist but i cannot say 100% that there is no such thing as a sentient Creator, just that im pretty sure there isnt. That right there might make some call me an agnostic.
2007-09-21 12:11:58 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
atheism = "a" + "theism" = without belief in deity. That's ALL the term means: having no belief in the existence of deities. Period.
agnosticism = "a" + "gnosticism" = literally, "without knowledge", but the term was coined by Huxley to specifically mean "The belief that the existence of deity cannot and never can be proven nor disproven".
Contrary to popular belief, the two terms are not mutually exclusive. Some people misuse "atheism" to mean "the assertive belief that God does not exist" but that isn't always the case with atheists. Likewise, agnostics are not necessarily "fence sitters" or people who "can't decide".
2007-09-21 12:09:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
Atheists do not believe in a god.
Agnostic believe the existence or non-existence of some sort of deity cannot be proven.
2007-09-21 12:05:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 0⤋
Not quite.
It is possible to be an atheist and still spiritual.
2007-09-21 12:06:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
Agnostics are Atheists without BALLS.
2007-09-21 12:12:01 · answer #10 · answered by Lex Fok B.M.F. 3 · 2⤊ 5⤋