Difference Between Agnostic and Atheist

The following article was obtained through the website, Difference Between Anything and Everything

The difference between agnostic and atheist is that agnostics are often classified as people who doubt the idea of God, but don’t claim to know whether or not God exists. Atheists, on the other hand, are people who believe that there is no God. Some people may say they are agnostic atheists, meaning they don’t think their beliefs can be classified as either atheist or agnostic.

The word “agnostic” derives from the term “ignorance”. The word is often misused to mean lack of knowledge, but in fact, means to not be able to know. An agnostic has no reason to believe whether there is a god or not. Agnostics are often considered atheistic by other people, but they are different.

Atheists are people who do not believe in God, while agnostics are unsure of whether or not there is a god. So, in this article, we’ll discuss the difference between agnostic and atheist briefly.

What is Agnostic?

Agnostic is a term that has been used to describe people who claim they are neither theist nor atheist. The term was first coined by Thomas Huxley in 1869. There are many variations of agnosticism, but some may believe in vague, unquantifiable concepts such as “the unknown” or “unknowable things”. As a religion, agnosticism is the belief that the nature of divine reality is unknowable.

Some may even believe in a higher power without assigning it to a specific god. Agnosticism can be contrasted with atheism, which holds that it is not possible to know the nature of divine reality. Both positions have their origins in classical philosophy and they are as old as classical antiquity.  

It has been suggested that people who hold these positions should be called ‘ignostic’ rather than ‘agnostic’. They’re people who can’t tell if there is a God or not. Being an agnostic, they don’t believe in the idea of God, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t believe in anything else.

What is Atheist?

Atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of gods. If someone doesn’t believe in any deities, they are considered an atheist. Atheists don’t know anything about supernatural forces and events because there is no evidence to back them up. Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of a deity.

The term was coined by author Paul Henri Thiry, Baron D’Holbach in the 18th century. Atheists are not defined by what they believe but by their lack of belief. You don’t have to believe that there is no god to be an atheist. They have fought hard to have their views taken seriously, but are still often seen as immoral, untrustworthy, or just plain weird.

They are often viewed as immoral, untrustworthy, or just plain weird. They’re often the target of prejudice and discrimination for holding beliefs that diverge from the norm. Yet atheists have also joined together to fight against religious bigotry and raise their profile in society by simply being open about their lack of belief.

Atheism is the lack of belief in any gods. It’s an independent system of thoughts that are not based on religious ideologies. Atheists believe that science and logic are more dependable than divine intervention.

Difference Between Atheist and Agnostic

The difference between agnostic and atheist is that the former claims to not know whether or not there is a God whereas the latter is firmly convinced there is no such thing. Both, however, are generally defined as someone who has either rejected belief in God or does not believe in him at all.

Agnostic and Atheist are two very different groups that are often misunderstood. The main difference between the two is that Agnostics still believe in some form of god, while Atheists do not. Agnostics are the more populous group, with estimates around 1.5 billion followers.

Atheists, on the other hand, have a small population of only around 200 million and also mainly reside in developed countries such as Europe and North America.

Both Agnostics and Atheists are people who disbelieve in the existence of a god or gods. Agnostics don’t know whether there is a god or not, whereas Atheists do not believe that any gods exist. There are many different theories as to why people dismiss the idea of a god, and one of them is cognitive dissonance.