Is an agnostic someone who does not know if there is a god? Or do they believe that you CANNOT know if there is a god?
From what I understand, both would be agnostic. Agnosticism is a position one has with regard to knowledge (in this case knowledge of God). Some Agnostics hold that knowledge of God, if one exists, is impossible to obtain (with certainty?) - as it is outside the scope of understanding, of evidence etc. Some are agnostic merely because they themselves do not personally have knowledge. But bear in mind that agnosticism is not a middle position between theism and atheism. Many atheists are agnostic atheists - they are atheist precisely because of their agnosticism - coupled with rationality... afterall, if one does not have knowledge of something (agnostic), it is irrational to have belief in its existence (theist). And as we know, anyone who is not a theist is, by definition, an atheist. Hope that helps.
Well said. Except for this: Many theists are agnostic too and it seems that agnostics lean more towards theism.
I wouldn't have thought that true. Most theists I have come across and discussed such matter with claim a knowledge of God - either through the Bible (in the case of Christians) or personal experience etc. But I admit my understanding of Eastern cultures and Islamic cultures is not strong. The majority of atheists that I know, however, are so by dint of their agnostic position coupled with rationality. Few claim to know that God does not exist, or even that knowledge of God's non-existence is possible. It is an irrational position to couple agnosticism with theism - and I can only think of Pascal's Wager as any sort of justification - albeit flawed. Saying that, my brother is an agnostic theist: he thinks it is better to believe (in anything) than to not believe, even though he understands that no evidence of God can exist. If you poll this site, I would wager that most atheists would claim agnosticism as well, whereas most theists wouldn't.
An agnostic is typically one who cannot put faith in any god because he DOESN'T know if there is one. Surely an agnostic must accept that a god can reveal itself for him so that he does know (but cannot believe before it happens).
as an atheist myself, an agnostic belives here is no proof of a god, but doesn't rul;e out the chanc he exsists. an atheist belives that there is no god.
Umm....no. Anyone who is not a theist is an atheist. An agnostic is a person who believes that nothing can be known concerning the existence of God. Theism is about belief, agnosticism is about knowledge.
