Comments on: Atheist, Gnostic, Theist, Agnostic

By: matt

matt — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:05:46 +0000

this is really good in principle.. the only problem i foresee is the definition of gnostic.. when i use the word gnostic i’m usually referring specifically to any pantheistic or esoteric type “enlightenment” religions.. whether its oriental, occult, or the secret doctrines of western occult organizations like rosicrucians, masons, OTO, golden dawn, gnostic “christians” (bad term since alot of christians consider these teachings to be damn near completely at odds with their beliefs or even in the extreme satanic or at least blasphemous), thelema, theosophy, and etc. i guess these dont come up much because discussion of them is obscure and riddled with conspiracy theory and potential alternative historical narratives that most people don’t want anything to do with. but in principle and based on what the terms really do or should mean at least linguistically, it is a pretty solid denotative paradigm. BTW Fun for gnostics/esotericists: this has clear correspondences to the YHWH/tetragramaton formula so if you wana get “closer to knowing about god” just relate the relative relationships (wow how redundant was that lol) in these 4 terms to the relationship of any other “spectral” paradigm or whatever (ex: 4 phases of matter/”elements” ) thing to another and you are now investing the works of the “grand architect” ;D (note: i’m not representing masonry here just borrowing a cool term)

By: Kat

Kat — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:33:27 +0000

I have to agree that any time religion comes up the first and most difficult part is agreeing on what the words mean.
Although not everyone will be happy with it because of some reason or another, I think this is a useful starting point that most people can agree on(cause pictures make everything better).

By: Annon

Annon — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:11:18 +0000

This table can be used, but we should be aware of it’s assumptions. Theism and Atheism are very narrow definitions because they just deal with God. So if you are a spiritualist, the horizontal axis is meaningless.

I personally would replace theist/atheist axis, with spiritual/spiritual

Also, what if you are theist, but don’t hold to any conventional religion or dogma? Theists are always taken to be Christians or some other belonging to another major world religion.

I’ve decided to reject all these labels completely. Don’t be pigeonholed.

By: Randy W. Sandberg

Randy W. Sandberg — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:01:38 +0000

Hi Peter,

THANK YOU for this excellent article. My thoughts on all this stuff are a bit different than what I have read before so I will lay them out here and see what you and others think. As you say, atheists do not believe in gods. Gods are thought of as superior beings. I do not believe in the idea that anyone can truly be superior nor inferior to anyone else. That is, I believe even though some of us are stronger, faster, etcetera, we are all equals. Thus, I reject the idea of a god or gods and therefore that is why I call myself an atheist. Now, armed with this new information thanks to you, I will consider myself a gnostic atheist.

Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Randy W. Sandberg

By: Rey

Rey — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:28:34 +0000

@Eric
September 25th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Iâ€™m not sure how I fit in.
I believe it is possible to demonstrate that no god can exist which is both good and omnipotent; but I accept that an omnipotent evil god could (potentially) exist.

According to your comment, you fit in the gnostic atheist category whether you believe it or not

By: janda

janda — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:16:32 +0000

An atheist is someone who is ungrateful creature and disputes everything God has created and says “all that is doubtful”

A theist is someone who is always thankful to God and says”all that is good”.

By: janda

janda — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:08:21 +0000

an Atheist is someone who does not believe in God because he is an ungrateful creature who always disputes, doubts,mocks,ridicules, conjecture ,argues,lies, misleads, deceive by the millions with their writings on the net.They are the worst of beast in the eyes of God.Happily would they deceive mankind but they cant deceive God and the Truth.If only they knew how they are blind,deaf and dumb to the Truth.If only they knew, how they are deluded all this while.Let them alone and their vain discourses and leave them to wander distracted on this world to and fro.Let the blind lead the blind .

An Atheist is someone who is grateful and always have only one answer when he/she is asked about God and his/her believe that is “all that is good”.And then he/she sleeps go to bed with a peaceful mind.

By: kaonashi

kaonashi — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:00:49 +0000

What if one believed that it is POSSIBLE to know that god DOES exist, but that it is IMPOSSIBLE to know that god DOESN’T exist?

If god does exist, then we may someday be able to prove it, but if god does not exist, then as it’s generally not possible to prove a negative, we may never know for certain.

By: Frosty

Frosty — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:15:22 +0000

You define atheist as “no belief in god”

Therefore it’s impossible to be an “apathist”, anyone who fails to understand the ideas involved (small children and stupid people) as well as those who simply do not care are ALL atheists.

The check for being an atheist is simple, do you believe in a god? If the answer is anything other than yes, you’re an atheist. There is no position in between or on the line, you either believe in a god or you dont.

Otherwise a fairly well constructed article, nicely done.

By: Ethan Pozismer

Ethan Pozismer — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:25:18 +0000

prepare to become gnostic with this site