People seem to think belief (or lack thereof) is a one dimensional line.
Theism - Agnosticism - Atheism
But it’s more like the political compass with Theism - Atheism on one axis and Gnostism - Agnosticism on the other.
Theism/Atheism is a comment on whether you believe in god(s).
Gnostism/Agnosticism is a comment on how strongly you hold that belief (or lack of belief).
Are you absolutely certain there’s no god? Then you’re a gnostic atheist. Believe in god in sort of a wishy-washy way? Then you’re an agnostic theist.
I’m a die hard atheist, but I also consider myself an agnostic. Because although there’s no evidence of a god it’s also impossible to prove a negative.
To be a gnostic atheist would actually take a leap of faith I’m not willing to risk.
Being honest about the uncertain nature of the mystical experiences of our world is a cowards move now? P sure that has been a marker of wisdom for many great thinkers in the western canon, eg well over 2000 years
Atheism is not about treating the nonexistence of gods as more certain than mathematical theorems. It’s about recognizing that just because the theist ideas are put into words doesn’t mean we should treat them as any closer to the truth then the virtually infinite potential strings of characters - meaningful or otherwise - that were not “fortunate enough” to be put to writing.
Agnosticism is the centrism of the theological world.
Agnosticism is weird. It’s just atheism for cowards.
People seem to think belief (or lack thereof) is a one dimensional line.
Theism - Agnosticism - Atheism
But it’s more like the political compass with Theism - Atheism on one axis and Gnostism - Agnosticism on the other.
Theism/Atheism is a comment on whether you believe in god(s).
Gnostism/Agnosticism is a comment on how strongly you hold that belief (or lack of belief).
Are you absolutely certain there’s no god? Then you’re a gnostic atheist. Believe in god in sort of a wishy-washy way? Then you’re an agnostic theist.
I’m a die hard atheist, but I also consider myself an agnostic. Because although there’s no evidence of a god it’s also impossible to prove a negative.
To be a gnostic atheist would actually take a leap of faith I’m not willing to risk.
So you’re atheist? You have unwavering faith in the unknown then. No proof, just feelings and opinions. Just like theists.
Being honest about the uncertain nature of the mystical experiences of our world is a cowards move now? P sure that has been a marker of wisdom for many great thinkers in the western canon, eg well over 2000 years
Atheism is not about treating the nonexistence of gods as more certain than mathematical theorems. It’s about recognizing that just because the theist ideas are put into words doesn’t mean we should treat them as any closer to the truth then the virtually infinite potential strings of characters - meaningful or otherwise - that were not “fortunate enough” to be put to writing.
Agnosticism is the centrism of the theological world.