Atheist or Agnostic

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There is much confusion about the difference in meaning of these terms. It is frequently claimed that all atheists make absolute statements about the nonexistence of god, but this is not necessarily true.

The question of Belief

Theism addresses the question of belief in God. Theists are individuals who make the explicit claim that god exists. They can be said to have a positive belief that the claim is true.

Atheism on the other hand really means "without theism". Consequently an atheist is someone who does not accept that claims about gods existence are true. This is not quite the same as actively stating that no gods exist.

If we consider two possible statements about the existence of god, we can easily identify two possible claims:

  • 1. God exists.
  • 2. God does not exist.

We can equally easily identify two possible responses to each claim:

  • Acceptance of the claim.
  • Rejection of the claim.

For the first claim (God exists), the theist's position is one of acceptance, while the atheist's position is one of rejection.

For the second claim (God does not exist), the theist's position is one of acceptance while atheists can theoretically hold either position.

In fact, some atheists actively believe that no god exists while others hold that neither claim is sufficiently supported to justify acceptance. These positions are often labeled strong atheism and weak atheism, respectively.

Knowledge

Gnosticism historically referred to a state of knowing or claiming to know something - usually esoteric or religious in some way, and probably as the result of some divine revelation

Literally an agnostic is someone who does not claim to know these things are true. In more modern times agnostics are those who claim that knowledge about the existence of gods is unknowable, undemonstrable.

Combining Terms

It is clear that the terms agnostic and atheist are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The idea that the existence of god is not necessarily disprovable but is highly unlikely could be held by either group.

Frequently people think that all atheists feel that god can be demonstrated to not exist, but this is not necessarily true. Many atheists would shrink from that position simply because of the difficulty involved in proving a negative.

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