Areligious, agnostic, atheist all mean not believing in God
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Anonymous
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Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).
In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist. There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t. In some cases, 1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children; 2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion; 3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more. I’m #3. What about you? |
Anonymous
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It depends on your definition of God.
What is your definition of God? |
Anonymous
| May God bless you and protect you and show you the way back to Him. Amen. |
Anonymous
Cough cough god doesn't exist cough |
Anonymous
Amen 🙏 |
Anonymous
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No, they don’t.
Faith is different than belief. Knowledge is different than experience. Religion is different than spirituality. How these distinctions matter to you is up to you and I wish you nothing but peace and comfort in your journey. |
Anonymous
Get behind me satan! |
Anonymous
platitudes are easy. |
Anonymous
How sweet of you |
Anonymous
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Gnosticism refers to knowing. The opposite of knowing is not knowing. As an agnostic I don’t know if there is a higher power, and if there is I don’t know how it manifests. Some agnostics, like me, also believe that it is impossible to know.
That not knowing is different from atheism. Theism is the belief in God or gods. The opposite of that is the belief that there are no gods. That is completely different from agnosticism. Someone who is areligious is someone who doesn’t follow an organized religious tradition. You can believe in a higher power and be areligious. You can also be like me and participate in an organized religion even though you are agnostic or even atheist. |
Anonymous
This poster has it right, OP. But nice try. |
Anonymous
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I disagree. I am agnostic Christian. I don't have evidence or surety that God is real. But I hope against logic that He is. And I pray, go to church, and try to follow the way Jesus showed us.
The "leap into the absurd" resonates with me. If we have to be sure, then there's really no such thing as faith. |
Anonymous
Faith is believing (being sure) without material evidence. Hoping is different. I hope my child will be a happy adult, but I don't believe it. (I have mixed indirect predictive evidence.) I believe my dead grandmother feels no pain. (I have some indirect material evidence that all points to that.) |
Anonymous
You disagree with what? and What is an agnostic Christian? DO you really think of yourself that way? Seems to me that you can have Jesus for a role model without believing in the everlasting life stuff? The way I see it -- most people don't have faith: they just hope that they will somehow continue to live after they die. |
Anonymous
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OP you are wrong.
I am areligious and I believe in God. |