difference between Agnostics & Atheists?

[Jerboy]

this might be a dumb question, but what exactly are the differences?

 

[Rahminator]

Agnostics say there may or may not be a God and have "I don't know, I'm not sure" attitude.
Atheists just plain don't believe in a God.

 

[jobberd]

You are going to get alot of different answers considering everyone has their own personal definition of each term, so let me try to summarize them as best as I can.
Atheist: You do not believe that there is an omnipotent being in existence
Agnostic: You do not believe humanity will ever know if there is an omnipotent being in existence

 

[ShallowHal]

Agnostic:
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.
One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

Atheist:
One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods

 

[Novgrod]

ShallowHal hit the nail on the head--there are a couple versions of agnosticism, but athiests differ only in their devotion to their beliefs as best I know.

 

[ChinamanatNCSU]

basically, an agnostic isn't sure there is god- they think there isn't enough evidence to point to either side.
atheists say there is no god and there can't be a god.
my $0.02
EDIT: well, looks like I'm not wrong, just like 5 other people beat me to it. Ditto to the above then

 

[CSoup]

theists and atheists have one thing in common - they each believe in faith.

agnostics have no faith.

 

[yellowperil]

^ What those guys said. Fundamental differences, yet on some religion polls they group agnostics and atheists under the same checkbox. :disgust:

 

[gopunk]

agnostic - impossible to know whether there is or isn't (i wouldn't put this as "unsure"... it sounds like they might change their mind later or something)
atheist - no god(s)

 

[Ronstang]

An agnostic is simply an athiest who hides behind another description to keep the Bible thumpers from trying to convert them. If you tell the religious people you are an agnostic they usually leave you alone with a little quip like "God will show you the way when the time is right" or some other crap but if you say you don't believe in God at all then they take that personally and you find youself politely trying to find a way to tell the to fsck off!

 

[gopunk]

<< An agnostic is simply an athiest who hides behind another description to keep the Bible thumpers from trying to convert them. If you tell the religious people you are an agnostic they usually leave you alone with a little quip like "God will show you the way when the time is right" or some other crap but if you say you don't believe in God at all then they take that personally and you find youself politely trying to find a way to tell the to fsck off! >>



i would disagree, i'm an atheist and an agnostic, what do you say to that?

 

[b0mbrman]

Agnostic acknowledges existence of some greater being...atheist is not god...

 

[Noriaki]

<< and you find youself politely trying to find a way to tell the to fsck off! >>

Who said anything about polite?

And there are significant differences. Agnostics aren't Atheists that are trying to hide.

Atheists firmly believe that God does not exist.
Theists firmly believe that God does exist.
Agnostics are undecided.

Atheists and Agnostics are not the same.
The statements "I do not firmly believe God exists" and "I firmly believe God does not exist" are quite different. It's a simple, but important logical fallacy that these statements are the same.

 

[Ronstang]

<< i would disagree, i'm an atheist and an agnostic, what do you say to that? >>



Actually I don't have much to say because I really don't give a crap that you can't see that by the generally accepted definitions the terms athiest and agnostic are mutually exclusive, but that is your cross to bear.

Let's try another one. An agnostic is simply someone who isn't confident enough in their beliefs that they feel the need to hedge their bets or "ride the fence" until the outcome becomes more apparent.

 

[pulse8]

ag·nos·tic Pronunciation Key (g-nstk)
n.

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.
One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

Link

a·the·ist Pronunciation Key (th-st)
n.
One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

Link


Any more brain busters?

 

[littleprince]

Agnostic is someone who isnt sure if god exsist, but either way, doesnt care.
Maybe there is, maybe there isnt, but i'm not gonna fret over it kind of thing
atheist noes there is no god.

 

[Novgrod]

Let's try another one. An agnostic is simply someone who isn't confident enough in their beliefs that they feel the need to hedge their bets or "ride the fence" until the outcome becomes more apparent.

While your hostile tone might even be applicable for defs 2 and 3, it hardly fits the first: that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.

Otherwise, what Noriaki said.

You could turn the definition around somewhat and say that agnostics aren't the sort to accost athiests or theists for their beliefs, whereas one athiest apparently is violently convinced he's right.

 

[Jerboy]

<< ag·nos·tic Pronunciation Key (g-nstk)
n.

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.
One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

Link

a·the·ist Pronunciation Key (th-st)
n.
One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

Link
>>



I already tried dictionaries. One just use more powerful phrase than the other and I was unclear and it looks like this is an unclear controversial topic considering not everyone made black and white answers.




Ok, well so far my understanding of people's belief in God is:

Atheist: negative
Agnostic: neutral
Theist: affirmative


are those right?

 

[gopunk]

Actually I don't have much to say because I really don't give a crap that you can't see that by the generally accepted definitions the terms athiest and agnostic are mutually exclusive, but that is your cross to bear.

the un-bastardized definition of agnostic is one who feels it is impossible to know one way or another. now, if you choose to use some uninformed definition, that's *your* cross to bear.

Let's try another one. An agnostic is simply someone who isn't confident enough in their beliefs that they feel the need to hedge their bets or "ride the fence" until the outcome becomes more apparent.

you can word it like that, or you can say that they're not about to make a decision about something *nobody* knows the answer to.

 

[yellowperil]

<< Let's try another one. An agnostic is simply someone who isn't confident enough in their beliefs that they feel the need to hedge their bets or "ride the fence" until the outcome becomes more apparent. >>



This is somewhat correct except I would not attribute it to lack of confidence. As from the dictionary definition there are two camps of agnostics. One believes it is impossible to know whether a god exists, the other believes it is possible to know but not presently.

 

[pulse8]

<< I already tried dictionaries. One just use more powerful phrase than the other and I was unclear and it looks like this is an unclear controversial topic considering not everyone made black and white answers. >>

People will always give different answers when they aren't sure what they are talking about.

 

[gopunk]

Ok, well so far my understanding of people's belief in God is:
Atheist: negative
Agnostic: neutral
Theist: affirmative
are those right?

well, agnostics can also be other religions (if you use the *right*, original, definition). of the three definitions of agnosticism i know, 2 relate to religion, and one of them is only there because a bunch of ignorant people kept on using it.

 

[Ronstang]

BTW, I'm just playing the pr!ck on ATOT tonight because these threads are only fun when people get their feathers ruffled, I really don't care about this crap one way or another and if I offend anyone it is simply for the sake of making the thread more interesting since I wish noone here any ill will or insult (well there are a few but their brains aren't big enough for me to waste my time on, and this applies to noone currently involved in this thread btw). Hmmm, I guess I'm hedging my bet now.........:disgust:


I have no idea how all those different smilies showed up..............................maybe it is a higher power!