What is agnostics?

Answer 1

An agnostic feels that humans are not equiped to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time. Whether or not there is a deity, there is no way to know anything about her/him.

Agnostics don't know if there is a God, or gods, or any higher power at all, and they also don't think it can be disproven/proven that there is one. Most don't really care.

Agnosticism is a coherent and reasoned position and it is not the position of people who may be experiencing a crisis of faith. It is natural even for strong believers among the people of faith to sometimes experience doubts. Agnostics are not people who are experiencing pangs of doubt or confusion. They are not 'on the fence' as some characterize them, since they appear to be somewhere between faith and Atheism.

In general, virtually all western religions and some eastern religions as well have fundamentalist underpinnings that involve certainty regarding some basic questions. This positional certainty is based on divine revelation. There is certainty in the existence of a deity, and about the purpose and methods of the deity. There is usually certainty about the fate of nonbelievers, and about how to become one of those who will experience heaven after death. There is also certainty about what groups or individuals are hated by the deity and will eventually be brought to doom. These convictions cannot be directly and convincingly connected to any form of physical evidence. It is in the very nature of faith that convictions are held even though the object of faith is hoped for and unseen. Faith is absolute belief in the complete absence of evidence.

On the other hand, atheists are those who claim the same level of certainty held by people of faith, but their certainty is that there is no deity.

Perhaps some atheists don't realize that their certainty puts them in league with those who claim a metaphysical connection, certainty in the complete absence of evidence, that is itself a possible argument in favor of the divine. On the one hand is faith given by the deity that leads to salvation, and on the other is the faith, different in form only and not substance, that no such deity exists. What is the source of such faith? Certainty of this kind cannot come from reason alone, or from physical evidence. Recall the debate over proving that there are NO WMD's in Iraq. "Give me the hard evidence that there are NO WMD's in Iraq!"... What?... The only thing that can be proven is that there ARE WMD's, if indeed there are.

The heart of the dilemma is the nature of knowledge and of certainty. For those who have received saving faith, the reality, experience or 'sensorium' of the spiritual and metaphysical is as undeniable as dirt. For those who have yet to receive such faith, like myself, the spiritual and metaphysical claims of people of faith appear indistinguishable from fantasy, myth or madness. The Greek scriptures talk about this. The things that are spiritually discerned are foolishness to the unbeliever. No argument from me on that point.

So I conclude that it is as foolish to claim certainty that people of faith are completely wrong as it is to believe their teachings. It matters little to me whether I am considered an agnostic or an atheist. What is more important is to wonder about what can be known, and to what extent can we be certain of it.

Perhaps the difference between agnostics and atheists comes down to the approach to spiritual and metaphysical realms, the realms of theology and some philosophy. In the absence of evidence, and knowing that I do not have the faith that people of faith are supposed to possess, I can only conclude that spirituality and metaphysics are largely unknown and currently unknowable, and probably result from the neurological entropy that comes along with our overpowered brains. I cannot conclude with certainty that those realms are completely unreal. I can hold these beliefs without a single urge to force believers or atheists to come around to my way of thinking.

An agnostic is a person who does not know whether or not there is a supreme being - a god - who controls the universe.

The Greek word "gnōstós" means "known: the prefix "a-" means "not". So "agnostic" means "not known", and in generally means "a person who does not know" - and in some cases, "a person who does not care". The word agnostic generally refers to a supreme being, but is sometimes used in technology; a program that is "platform-agnostic" doesn't care what kind of computer it is running on.

Answer 2

the word Gnostic means knowing.. which this is someone that Knows there is a God. HOWERVER, A means un, or no or better yet NOT.. so the word AGNOSTIC means that they do not know there is a GOD.

Answer 3

agnostic = without knowledge

From the greek: a - without, gnosis - knowledge

No more no less.

BTW, I consider myself a Christian Agnostic - I choose to believe christian theology but I do not believe that we can know if any theology is true. I could be wrong and I freely admit it.

Answer 4

The practice of questioning the existence of a god or supreme being.

Answer 5

An agnostic is somebody that is not sure about a god or higher being.

Answer 6

An agnostic is one who is unsure of the existence of a deity Unlike a strong atheist, they do not believe with certainty that god(s) don't exist, but are also unconvinced of any's existence.

Answer 7

People who claim not to know if there is a God or not. Agnosticism comes from Greek and means "un-knowledge".