I'm a christian. I've heard the term agnostic, just curious what the difference between an athiest and an agnostic is.
2007-09-28 01:41:20 · 17 answers · asked by Kelli H 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The difference is certainty
An Atheist believes that God does not exist
An Agnostic is not sure
2007-09-28 01:44:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
It depends on whether you mean the classic definitions of agnostic and atheist or the contemporary meanings of agnostic and atheist.
Classically speaking, atheists and agnostics are both people who have carefully analyzed the world around them based on the available data, compared the various theistic belief systems, and found them lacking. The atheist, at this point, concludes that there is no deity, and may fall into one of a few categories at this point, such as a Darwinist who believes that life on Earth came about through a series of random and statistically improbable events, or a Designist who believes that life was begun on Earth by a life form from some other place, but that the life form in question is not strictly a deity. The agnostic, at this point, concludes that there is no way to know whether or not there actually is a God, and follows a belief system based on that principal of uncertainty.
In the modern era, the person who takes the label agnostic is seldom one who has made a serious inquiry into the existence of deity. Rather, the contemporary agnostic is someone who, rather than accepting than concluding that there is no way to know whether or not there is a God, just doesn't really care whether or not there is a God. They have accepted that others in the past have looked into the matter carefully, and that is good enough for them. Agnosticism, then, becomes more a matter of convenience than of philosophical belief.
The contemporary atheist is not always much more diligent than the contemporary agnostic, unfortunately. The contemporary atheist is philosophically a bit more honest than the contemporary agnostic, because he or she says "because I have not seen any empirical evidence that convinces me there is a God, I do not believe there is one", or something similar. This does not mean that they have done any significant research, or even any research at all, but they have at least stuck to the portion of the formal definition that states they do not belive there is a God, whereas the agnostic has drifted from "we cannot know there is a God because He is hidden from us, otherwise there would be no faith", to "I don't care if there is a God or not, because I am going to live as I see fit anyway".
2007-09-28 02:09:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have seen several answers here that say something like "An atheist BELIEVES that god DOES NOT exist." That is NOT correct, except in a very specific and limited case. A more accurate characterization is to say "An atheist DOES NOT BELIEVE that god exists." DO you see the difference? Theism/atheism has to do with BELIEF in god(s). Gnostic/agnostic has to do with KNOWLEDGE pertaining to god(s). An agnostic maintains that any knowledge pertaining to god(s) is inaccessible, and as such, it is impossible to KNOW whether or not god(s) exist. If you analyze that paragraph, you will note that the previous statement, "An atheist DOES NOT BELIEVE that god exists" is also TRUE for an agnostic. So, an agnostic IS an atheist. Here is the crucial difference... an atheist does not find sufficient evidence to support a BELIEF in god(s). An agnostic does not have access to KNOWLEDGE pertaining to gods. As you can see, those CRUCIAL differences are no more than a trifle... a word game... a semantic quibble. Now... the STRONG atheist position is a little different... the strong atheist DOES say "I BELIEVE God DOES NOT exist."... i.e., NO GOD is a TRUE proposition. That implies that the strong atheist has access to evidence that he deems sufficient to support a BELIEF that god does not exist. Philosophically and logically, then, such a position bears a burden of proof. The regular-old atheist position DOES NOT bear a burden of proof... neither does the agnostic position. "An agnostic is basically an atheist without any balls." ~ Stephen Colbert P.S. I have taken notice that some respondents have stated that 'atheism' is a religion. That ranks very near the top with regard to stupid assertions. Atheism is no more a religion than NOT collecting stamps is a hobby.
2016-05-20 22:38:55 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
an agnostic is not sure rather there is a God or not. or other gods. most of them choose to not believe there is but there is still something in thit that says there might just be a God. they have an attitude if they die they might be wrong.
were as an athiest does not believe in God or satan or other gods out there. and most true athiest wont use Gods name in vain either. and they have an attitude that if they did they were right and there is not chance they are wrong.
just like a christian when we die we know we are right. same with out belief. we know God exist. and so we do his will. then there are some who are luke warm and are not 100 percent sure but they go to church now and then and say they believe just in case God does exist but in there mind they are not sure and some go off and do what they want. useally they are the same as an agnostic but they claim to be christian were as most agnostics dont. they just leave God open and that he could be true.
2007-09-28 01:51:07 · answer #4 · answered by dannamanna99 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I can't believe how WRONG most of these answers are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I'm better.
Atheist = Doesn't BELIEVE in a god or gods
Agnostic = Doesn't KNOW if a god or gods exist
I repeat, an atheist DOES NOT say that a god DOES NOT exist because that would be making a claim and they know that claim cannot be proven hence it's not a good position to take.
If atheists walked around saying god doesn't exist then they'd have to prove that because of a positive claim. That puts them in the same boat as a theist or believer. An atheist however doesn't do this. An atheist will say that they don't believe in a god or gods and that's a very different thing.
You can be agnostic AND an atheist at the same time. They're not mutually exclusive.
2007-09-28 01:50:56 · answer #5 · answered by Tony AM 5 · 7⤊ 1⤋
An atheist does not believe in God(s) and an agnostic believes it is not possible to prove whether God(s) exist.
2007-09-28 01:44:50 · answer #6 · answered by A-chan 4 · 5⤊ 0⤋
An Atheist is someone who believes that God does not exist.
They reject all religion and usually have no belief in anything beyond the physical or material universe. No afterlife, etc.
An Agnostic (which comes from a word that means "not to know") is someone who is still questioning about the existence of God. While they do not have a faith in him or follow him, they also do not totally reject his existence. They may allow for some kind of a "spirit" world and an afterlife. But if there is one, they don't know anything about it.
2007-09-28 01:51:46 · answer #7 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Atheists don't believe in gods, and don't believe they ever existed.
Agnostics don't know or don't care if gods exist.
Personally, I am agnostic. I don't worship any gods, but I don't really know or care if they exist. I believe it isn't entirely possible to know. I've seen no evidence for or against divine in general. Against specific religions is a different story...
2007-09-28 01:54:22 · answer #8 · answered by Kharm 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
To my knowledge an Atheist believes that when they die there is nothing, no God, Heaven, reincarnation, nothing..
An Agnostic, is sitting on the fence, they are unsure, but are still not willing to make any sort of commitment..If there is something after death, then it's a bonus...
Blessed Be... )O(
2007-09-28 01:51:19 · answer #9 · answered by Bunge 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Atheists don't believe in god(s).
Agnostics don't believe that the (non)existence or attributes of god(s) can be known.
It's possible to be both, I don't believe, but I'm not stupid enough to say that the possibility doesn't exist. Actually, it's common to be both. Though agnosticism can also be theistic, if the person believes in god(s) but doesn't actually claim to know anything about it/them.
2007-09-28 01:45:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋