Interesting: Agnosticism vs. Atheism
I sent this email to my wife the other day, and I thought it was interesting enough to post here:
I did some research on Agnostic vs. Atheism, and learned that the two are apples and oranges:
Agnostic: A person who may or may not believe in God, but understands that it’s impossible to know for sure. (it was coined originally to describe the position of a person who could not claim to know for sure if any gods exist or not
Atheists: A person who does not hold a belief in God.
So a person who does not believe in God, but acknowledges that it’s impossible to know for sure is an agnostic atheist. Likewise, a person who believes in God, but also understands that it’s impossible to know for sure is an agnostic theist. Basically, agnosticism is not a ‘third rail’ between theism and atheism. Agnosticism refers to knowledge, not belief. A person can’t simply be ‘agnostic’ by definition…you either hold a belief in God or you do not, making you either a theist or an atheist.
