I am a theist agnostic. This is what that means in correlation with atheism. Obviously, if theism is a belief in a God and atheism is a lack of a belief in a God, no third position or middle ground is possible. A person can either believe or not believe in a God. Therefore, our previous definition of atheism has made an impossibility out of the common usage of agnosticism to mean neither affirming nor denying a belief in God. Actually, this is no great loss, because the dictionary definition of agnostic is still again different from Huxleys definition. The literal meaning of agnostic is one who holds that some aspect of reality is unknowable. Therefore, an agnostic is not simply someone who suspends judgment on an issue, but rather one who suspends judgment because he feels that the subject is unknowable and therefore no judgment can be made. It is possible, therefore, for someone not to believe in a God (as Huxley did not) and yet still suspend judgment (ie, be an agnostic) about whether it is possible to obtain knowledge of a God. Such a person would be an atheistic agnostic. It is also possible to believe in the existence of a force behind the universe, but to hold (as did Herbert Spencer) that any knowledge of that force was unobtainable. Such a person would be a theistic agnostic. Essentially, what this means is that I believe in a higher power. I do not claim that there is no god, or do not believe in the existence of one. But I have no proof, I have no knowledge to either confirm nor deny this belief. I can have faith, but not knowledge which Is what agnostic theism is. For example, I can believe in the Christian God, but have no knowledge in the Christian God actually existing. Agnosticism is a more open-minded approach to belief. We are open and accepting to doing research, or trying new things. But there is no possible way to obtain knowledge on the belief of any God or Gods being real, or not existing. Human nature is to place good events in our lives as being blessings or miracles but it may in fact just be part of a a sequence of events that plays in our lives at what we would consider to be the right time. Human beings have no actual basis on which to confirm or deny any existence or lack of existence of any persons belief or faith In something we can not out right understand. We rely on evidence and knowledge. But somethings are impossible to actually confirm. So Agnosticism all together has two sides. You can be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist. They have two separate meanings, two separate belief systems.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 19:40:41 +0000
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