Agnosticism and Atheism: What is the Difference?

 by Amelia Cooper

Agnosticism originates from Ancient Greek, where it held several different meanings. “Atheistic” appears throughout Ancient Greek works of literature and holds the meaning of “disrespecting the local gods”, whereas the Greek word “atheoi” is seen in Ephesians 2:23 of the New Testament as meaning “without God”. 2nd Century Christian Apologist Justyn Martyr claimed that many Christians were also called atheists, as a comparison to classical theistic ideals and gods. In the form that we understand it today, “atheist” was set forth most prominently in the European Renaissance and Reformation movements. Alister McGrath, a modern Northern Irish theologian, intellectual historian, and priest, defines atheism as “the religion of autonomous and rational human beings, who believe that reason is able to uncover and express the deepest truths of the universe”; however, in the periods of the Reformation and Renaissance, the term “atheist” was used exclusively as an insult. The word suggested that one lacked moral restraint.

Agnosticism, alternatively, was initially coined by English biologist Thomas Huxley, and is derived from the Greek for “without knowledge”. An agnostic stance, as opposed to an atheistic which rejects the idea of God, suggests that we do not have enough knowledge to truly conclude the validity of God’s existence. Agnosticism also generally suggests that this knowledge is ultimately totally unattainable rather than being currently not known. Many confuse agnosticism as a middle-way between atheism and theism; however, whilst atheism concerns the existence of God, agnosticism surrounds itself with knowledge, or lack thereof, of God. Atheism also has the potential to be more offensive towards religion and can take an aggressively rejective perspective towards religious ideals and viewpoints. New Atheism is a modern form of atheism that predominately originates from the events that occurred during and after the 2001 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. New Atheism, rather than simply rejecting theistic ideals, shows hostility and anger towards religious believers, as in their opinion they are dangerous towards society and are deluded by their faith. Whilst extreme antitheist, atheist, viewpoints such as these illustrate a stark contrast between atheism and agnosticism, there are also some existing similarities in their respective structures.

In his 1972 novel ‘The Presumption of Atheism’, Anthony Flew set forth four separate categorisations of atheist beliefs. Negative (weak) atheism suggests that theists bear the burden of proof, whilst atheists can simply choose to believe that God does not exist rather than actively rejecting his existence. Alternatively, positive (strong) atheism surrounds the assertation of the knowledge that God does not exist. Protest atheism involves actively rejecting God due to moral reasons, perhaps due to the existence of evil and suffering in the world. Finally, New Atheism is the belief that religion is a threat, and a hostile belief full of deluded, dangerous people. Agnosticism can also be categorised: strong agnosticism holds the belief that it is impossible for anyone to know whether God exists or not, even Christians. Contrastingly, weak agnosticism suggests the suspension of a decision. For example, weak agnostics believe that, with the evidence currently available to us, God may or may not exist. Agnosticism reflects postmodern views that reject the certainty of knowledge, whereas atheism depicts revolutionist views and the subversion of typical views surrounding faith. Therefore, whilst both agnosticism and atheism store progressing levels of ‘intensity’ through their categorisations, they ultimately aim to assess different aspects of religion: existence and knowledge.