what is an agnostic? what do they believe?

Question

im an agnostic.. and my ignorant uncle is tryin to tell me what an agnostic is when he isnt one... im lookin for answers maybe u can tell him the same thing i have

Answer 1

They don't know what to believe.

Answer 2

I'm an agnostic, too.... an agnostic atheist.

I think the word "agnostic" is one of the most misused words ever.

It is often used as a position on the spectrum of belief, as if it's an alternative to atheist or theist. It's not.

Agnosticism concerns knowledge. It says that the existence of a god cannot be known, is inherently unknowable and/or will never be known. It has nothing to do with belief.

There are two questions you must ask yourself when it comes to the concept of a god.

The first is, "Do I know?"

It is impossible to neither know nor not know. Either you do, or you don't. If you think you do, you're gnostic. If you think you don't, you're agnostic.

The second question is, "Do I believe?"

Again, it is impossible to neither believe nor disbelieve. Either you do or you don't. If you do, you're a theist. If you don't, you're an atheist.

With those two questions answered, you will have of four outcomes - agnostic atheist, gnostic atheist, agnostic theist, or gnostic theist.

As you can see, rather than being a position on the spectrum of belief, agnosticism is a philosophical *qualifier* of your position on the spectrum of belief.

Answer 3

Well here's the dictionary version of it:

Main Entry: 1ag·nos·tic
Pronunciation: \ag-ˈnäs-tik, əg-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek agnōstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnōstos known, from gignōskein to know — more at know
Date: 1869
1: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god
2: a person unwilling to commit to an opinion about something
— ag·nos·ti·cism \-tə-ˌsi-zəm\ noun

Answer 4

I think this should help you :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Good luck!

Answer 5

Well, the term is somewhat broad. Essentially it means "without knowledge" indicating that we cannot know with any amount of certainty any details regarding an afterlife because that knowledge is subjective (we haven't died yet so we cant know).

Some Agnostics pick this up because they are on the fence not willing to deny that there could be an afterlife, but not willing to state it outright either.

Another group just does not care one way or the other whether it is true or not.

Most Agnostics that I know including myself argue that if it's true, then the gods must be evil for making so much bad stuff, the God of the OT for example is a mass murderer and has killed just to demonstrate his power. So even if there is a god and an afterlife, then it's immoral to worship such an evil Deity.

Here is another way of looking at it. Ask the following question "what happens when you die?" and you will get these answers:

From the Christian: You go to heaven or hell.
From the atheist: You become worm food.
From the Agnostics: I don't know, I'm not dead yet.

Answer 6

agnostic is a person who believes that there is a higher deity. however, they do not know what god to believe in.

Answer 7

Go here for a clear definition:

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/agnostic

Answer 8

Agnostics believe in HONESTY.

"I don’t know and you don’t either." Now that is an honest statement.

Answer 9

agnostic = "don't know"

so an agnostic neither believes there ARE gods, nor believes there are NOT. he/she simply says "there's not enough information for an informed opinion"

Answer 10

Agnostic literally means "don't know" or "no knowledge". In context it means they do not know whether or not there is a God. They may lean a certain way, they may think there isn't or think there is, but ultimately they don't know. Conservative agnosticism is to say that no one, ever, can have true knowledge of if there is a God or not. Liberal agnosticism is to say that there might be evidence for a God, but the individual has not personally seen it yet.

Answer 11

An agnostic is the person who kind a believe in the spirits but not in God.Tht's what I heard from my friend who is agnostic too.