Agnosticism
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Agnosticism:
Uncertainty about whether God exists
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Quotation:
 "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact,
every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if
there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of
blindfolded fear". --Thomas Jefferson
"I don't know & you don't either." "Militant Agnostic" bumper
sticker from CarryaBigSticker.com.
The range of meanings of the term: "Agnostic:"
Agnosticism is a concept, not a full religion. It is a belief related to the existence or non-existence of God. However, many people have started with an
Agnosticism, and have added a moral code, rituals and other items to create a belief system with many of the attributes of a religion.
When asked what their religion is, many Agnostics will reply "Agnostic." Since so many Agnostics regard this as their religion,
we have a policy of capitalizing the term out of respect, as we do for all religions on this web site. This is not often seen on the Internet,
but we feel that it is appropriate.Agnosticism implies uncertainty about the existence of God. The basic problem here is that there are
many answers to the question "Does God exist?" However there is only this one term available to cover all of the meanings.
Some of today's possible overlapping answers to the question are:
I don't personally know.
I don't know but will lead my life in the assumption that no God exists.
I don't know but will lead my life assuming that God does exist.
I cannot give an opinion because there is no way that we can prove the existence or non-existence of God given currently available knowledge.
I cannot give an opinion because there is no way to know, with certainty, anything about God, now and in the future.
Yes, God exists. But we do not know anything about God at this time.
Yes, God exists. But we have no possibility of knowing anything about God, now or in the future.
Ultimately, the term "Agnostic" is something like "Christianity."
Both refer to a wide diversity of belief systems, but in many cases, an
individual asserts that their particular definition is the only fully valid one.
The one principle linking all meanings of "Agnostic" is that God's existence can neither be proved
nor
disproved, on the basis of current evidence. Agnostics note that some theologians and
philosophers have tried to to prove, for millennia, that God exists. Others have
attempted to prove that God does not exist.
Agnostics feel that neither side has convincingly succeeded at their task.
Evolution of the term "Agnostic" over time:
Three main meanings have been associated with "Agnostic" since Thomas H. Huxley invented the term in the mid-19th century
Huxley defined agnosticism as follows: "... it is wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what agnosticism asserts and in my opinion, is all that is essential to agnosticism."
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"... an agnostic is someone who not only is undecided concerning the existence of God, but who also thinks that the question of God’s existence is in principle unanswerable. We cannot know whether or not God exists, according to an agnostic, and should therefore neither believe nor disbelieve in him."
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An agnostic is undecided about whether or not God exists.
Are Agnostics also Atheists?
Agnostics are not Theists.
Agnostics do not believe in a God, or a Goddess, or in multiple Gods, or
multiple Goddesses or in a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. However, some Agnostics consider themselves to be
Atheists.
That is because the term "Atheist" has two slightly different meanings:
1. A person who positively believes that no God(s) or Goddess(es) exists. E. Haldeman-Julius
suggests that:
"The atheist perceives that history, in every branch of science, in the
plainly observable realities of life and in the processes of common
sense there is no place for the picture of a God; the idea doesn't fit
in with a calmly reasoned and realistic view of life. The atheist,
therefore denies the assumptions of theism because they are mere
assumptions and are not proved; whereas the contrary evidences, against
the idea of theism, are overwhelming." 1
This is the definition of Atheism used by most Christians, other Theists, and dictionaries of the English language.2. A person who has no belief in a God or Goddess. Just as a newborn
has no concept of a deity, some adults also have no such belief. The term
"Atheist" is derived from the Greek words "a" which means "without" and
"Theos" which means "God." A person can be a non-Theist by simply
lacking a belief in God without actively denying God's existence. This
is the definition of Atheism used by many Atheists. They use the term "strong
Atheist" to refer to a person who denies the existence of one or
more deities.
Some Agnostics feel that their beliefs match the second definition, and thus
consider themselves to be both Atheist and an Agnostic. Such confusion is
common in the field of religion. We have found 17 definitions for the term "Witch,"
eight for "cult," and six for the "Pagan." -- all different. A
lack of clear, unambiguous definitions for religious terms is responsible for a
great deal of confusion and hatred. It makes dialog among Agnostics,
Theists, and Atheists very difficult. In fact, when such a dialogue is attempted, it should be preceded
with a long session to resolve definitions.
As currently defined, an
agnostic usually holds the question of the existence of God open, pending the arrival of more
evidence. They are willing to
change their belief if some solid evidence or logical proof is found in the future.
Further definitions:
George Smith, the author of "Atheism" divides agnostics into two types:
Agnostic theists: those who believe that a deity probably exists;
Agnostic atheists: those who believe that it is very improbable that a deity exists. 5
Another category of Agnostic is "empirical Agnostics."
They believe that God may exist, but that little or nothing can be known about
him/her/it/them. Still another category are "Agnostic Humanists." These individuals are
undecided about the existence of God. Further, they do not really consider the
question to be particularly important. They have derived their moral and
behavioral codes from secular considerations. Their ethical behavior would not
be altered if a deity were proven to exist.Some agnostics who feel the need for religious discussion, fellowship, or ritual join a
congregation of the Unitarian-Universalist Association or
an Ethical Culture group.
Dictionary definitions of "Agnostic:"
Houghton Mifflin: "One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. One who is skeptical about the existence of God
but does not profess true atheism." 8
Columbia encyclopedia: "[A belief] that the existence of God cannot be logically proved or disproved. Agnosticism is not to be confused
with atheism which asserts that there is no God." 9
Wikipedia: ['A belief] that the (truth) values of certain claims -- particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or
deities -- are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent, and therefore, irrelevant to life." 10
Merriam-Webster: "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." 13
Die.net: "One who professes ignorance, or denies that we have any knowledge, save of phenomena; one who supports agnosticism,
neither affirming nor denying the existence of a personal Deity, a future life, etc." 14
Famous Agnostics:
Charles Darwin, a 19th century British
self-taught geologist and writer. He attended a course in theology at Christ's
College, Cambridge. Darwin
wrote in two places in his book "Life and Letters" about his
personal faith:
"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I
for one must be content to remain an Agnostic."
"I think an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of
mind. The whole subject [of God] is beyond the scope of man's intellect."
Thomas H. Huxley, a well known English religious skeptic, invented the
term Agnostic in the mid 19th century (sources differ about the exact date). He combined "a" which implies negative, with "gnostic"
which is a Greek word meaning knowledge.
In 1899, he wrote:
"...every man should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him;
it is the great principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern
science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect,
follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other
consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect do not pretend that
conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take
to be the agnostic faith, which if a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall not
be ashamed to look the universe in the face, whatever the future may have in
store for him." 7
He also wrote:
"When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was
an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an idealist; a Christian or a
freethinker, I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer;
until at last I came to the conclusion that I had neither art nor part with any of these
denominations, except the last...So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be
the appropriate title of "agnostic". It came into my head as suggestively
antithetic to the "gnostic" of Church history, who professed to know so much
about the very things of which I was ignorant..." 2
Robert G. Ingersoll is perhaps the most famous American Agnostic of
the 19th century. He commented on the problem of theodicy -- the presence of evil in a universe that
many people believe was created and is run by God:
"There is no subject -- and can be none -- concerning which any human being is
under any obligation to believe without evidence...The man who, without prejudice, reads
and understands the Old and New Testaments will cease to be an orthodox Christian. The
intelligent man who investigates the religion of any country without fear and without
prejudice will not and cannot be a believer....He who cannot harmonize the cruelties of
the Bible with the goodness of Jehovah, cannot harmonize the cruelties of Nature with the
goodness and wisdom of a supposed Deity. He will find it impossible to account for
pestilence and famine, for earthquake and storm, for slavery, for the triumph of the
strong over the weak, for the countless victories of injustice. He will find it impossible
to account for martyrs -- for the burning of the good, the noble, the loving, by the
ignorant, the malicious, and the infamous. " 3
Bertrand Russell was a well known British philosopher of the 20th
century. He was arrested during World War I for anti-war activities, and filled out a form
at the jail. The officer, noting that Russell had defined his religious affiliation as
"Agnostic" commented: "Ah yes; we all worship Him in our own way, don't
we." This comment allegedly "kept him smiling through his first
few days of incarceration." 4
Francois M. Arouet, the French 18th century author and
playwright who worked under the pseudonym Voltaire is often considered the father of Agnosticism.
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How many Agnostics are there?
The number of agnostics is unknown. Most data sources lump together agnostics,
atheists, freethinkers, persons of no religion and skeptics. Some Agnostics
identify themselves as Humanists, Unitarian Universalists, or Ethical
Culturalists.
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York conducted a massive
"ARIS" study of over 50,000 adults in 2001. 6 They estimate that
there are 991,000 American adults who identify themselves as Agnostics. This is
about 0.5% of the total population. There are
more self-identified Agnostics than Atheists in the U.S. The number of Agnostics exceeds the
number of followers of each of the organized religions, except for Christianity,
Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. If one were to count the number of Agnostics among
the Humanists, Unitarian Universalists, and those who refused to answer the
pollster, they would probably outnumber all of the organized religions, except
for Christianity.
The 1996 Canadian Census only counted 21,975 Agnostics. The 2001
census data showed that the percentage of Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists,
adherents of no religion, etc rose from 12.3% in 1991 to 16.2% in 2001.
Unfortunately, all public opinion surveys of religious affiliation include a
significant percentage of individuals who do not reveal their religion. In the
case of the ARIS study, this amounted to about 7% of the total surveyed. We
suspect that many of them are actually Agnostics.
Related essays in this website:
See also our sections on Atheism
and Humanism
References:
E. Haldeman-Julius, "The Meaning Of Atheism," at: http://www.infidels.org/library/
J. Hastings, ed., "Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics"
R.G. Ingersoll, "Why I am an Agnostic," at: http://www.infidels.org/library/
See a brief note in the Atheists-for-Jesus website at: http://www.atheists-for-jesus.com/
G.H. Smith, "Atheism: The case against God," Prometheus, (1980) Read 24
fascinating reviews and/or safely order this book from Amazon.com online bookstore
"American Religious Identification Survey," by The
Graduate Center of the City University of New York, at: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/
Thomas H. Huxley, "Agnosticism," (1889). Online at: http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/
Yahoo! education, at: http://education.yahoo.com/
Columbia Encyclopedia, at: http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/
Wikipedia, at: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/
"Agnostic definition," Essortment, at: http://azaz.essortment.com/
"Theism, Atheism and Agnosticsm," Philosophy of Religion, at: http://www.philosophyofreligion.info/
Merriam-Webster, at: http://www.m-w.com/
"Definition: agnostic," at: http://dict.die.net/
Sponsored links:
Agnostic resources on the Internet"
Many Agnostics contribute to the Atheist, freethinker and secular sites. Some resources
are:
The About.com website has a group of essays on Agnosticism
at: http://atheism.about.com/
Agnostic church describes their web site as "the
net's premier Agnostic Ezine & resource site." See:
http://www.agnostic.org/
Agnostic.com promotes empirical agnosticism at:
http://www.geocities.com/
A critical Agnostic Review of Christianity examines and evaluates "Christianity and the claims it
makes about the Bible and the nature of the universe." See:
http://www.geocities.com/
Agnostic Web features "An Agnostic's brief guide to the Universe"
at: http://www.agnosticweb.com/
Thomas Huxley and Victorian Agnosticism is described at:
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/
The Internet Infidels has a great deal of material on Agnosticism. You
can find it by using their internal search engines.
 The Secular Web at: http://www.infidels.org
Forums at: http://www.iidb.org
Their Kiosk containing popular essays at:
http://www.secweb.org
Their library at:
http://www.infidels.org/library/ See, for example:
 A talk by Clarence Darrow in which he explained why he was not a
Christian at:
http://www.infidels.org/library/
Notes from a debate on the existence of God between Dr. D.M. Jesseph from NC State and
Dr. W.L. Craig of Campus Crusade for Christ,
1996 at: http://www.infidels.org/library/
A 1896 talk by Robert G. Ingersoll titled "Why I am an Agnostic" is at:
http://www.infidels.org/library/
"Agnostics," a rather intolerant essay by
the late Madalyn Murray
O'Hair is at:
http://www.infidels.org/library/
H.J. Blackham's 1981 essay: "What is Agnosticism?" is
at: http://www.infidels.org/library/
Reaching the World for Christ Ministries has a section called: "Christian Apologetics ~ Refuting Atheism/Agnosticism."
It discusses and refutes agnosticism and other related philosophies and world views at:
http://www.reachingforchrist.org/A
famous essay by Bertrand Russell titled "What is an
Agnostic" is online at:
http://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/
The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic delivers a sometimes light-hearted
view of Agnosticism. See: http://www.ApatheticAgnostic.com
Book search at Amazon.com:The following books are the result of a search for books on Agnosticism at the Amazon.com web site.
If you see a generic ad here, please click on your browser's refresh button:
A guide for Agnostic parents:
 Dale McGowan, Ed., "Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring
Kids Without Religion," American Management Association (2007).
Read reviews or order this book
Other stuff:
See an updating news feed of interest to Agnostics and others.
Read a news feed of current topics, maintained by American Atheists
See additional books for children and teens
Copyright © 1997 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-JAN-21Author: B.A. Robinson.Links last checked on 2003-APR-15
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