Post by Xypher on Oct 11, 2015 21:27:09 GMT -7
As this board is titled Gnostic, I figured some insight to the Definition of the word would be a little handy.
In the ever growing debate between Theists, and Atheists, there has been the need for new titles to expand on these meanings. Atheist is a lot more complicated than one may expect, and does not inherently mean what everyone thinks it means.
Atheist means "Does not Believe", or someone who has a "Lack of Faith" for better terms. This does not mean that this person does not believe in the God depicted in the Holy Bible, but any god that has ever been written about past, present, or future. Someone could very well be a Roman Catholic Christian and still be an Atheist when it comes to Hinduism, or Muslim.
Theist means the exact opposite. Someone who Does believe. A Catholic Theist is someone who believes in the Catholic Division of faith. A Wiccan Theist is someone who believes in the Wicca, ect ect ect. One could be a Theist in multiple faiths, but this is very often not the case at all.
Now why would someone be telling you about the differences between atheism and theism in a board about Gnostic Practition. Well, that is simple. Gnostic, and Agnostic are titles that go BEFORE Atheism and Theism.
Gnostic, means Knowledge essentially. I am a gnostic about Oxygen because I know about oxygen. I am Agnostic about Willy Wonka riding a unicorn because I have no fucking idea if that ever happened ((Probably not, but you get the point)).
How this ties in? There is a Spectrum between Theist and Atheist, as well as reasons why someone is what they are.
And Agnostic Atheist is someone who Does not believe in a God(s) because they don't know. They have never been given proof. Science itself runs very strongly on this system because a Scientist does not know until shown otherwise. Many Agnostic Atheists often want proof of the existence of a higher being. They do very rarely enjoy the idea of nothing happening to them when they die, and them just ceasing to exist entirely. They will not however take a faith without knowledge that it is actually true. Many of them often are seem as argumentative, because they ask difficult questions that most every religious person cannot answer, and that is simply "Is there proof your god exists, other than your word. Can you prove they exist via the scientific method".
A Gnostic Athiest is someone who does not believe, because they know a god does not believe, and these people are often as stubborn and obnoxious as those stret preachers you see on the road, or your great aunt Cathy who is always telling you that you will go to hell if you don't accept the lord jebus into your heart.
As you can probably piece together, a Gnostic Theist is someone who believes in a god because they also know one exists. Most times they know simply due to a book written over 4000 years ago telling them that this invisible man lives in the sky and watches everything you will ever do.
And Agnostic Theist is probably the weirdest of the bunch, and they don't even know why they believe in what they believe. They just do. You have the highest chances of finding these people if you know someone who has been raised by a religious division, but can't successfully answer why they do. They were just raised to believe and that is about it. They will often need the most help as their beliefs are essentially a house built on a sand dune.
The more you know!
In the ever growing debate between Theists, and Atheists, there has been the need for new titles to expand on these meanings. Atheist is a lot more complicated than one may expect, and does not inherently mean what everyone thinks it means.
Atheist means "Does not Believe", or someone who has a "Lack of Faith" for better terms. This does not mean that this person does not believe in the God depicted in the Holy Bible, but any god that has ever been written about past, present, or future. Someone could very well be a Roman Catholic Christian and still be an Atheist when it comes to Hinduism, or Muslim.
Theist means the exact opposite. Someone who Does believe. A Catholic Theist is someone who believes in the Catholic Division of faith. A Wiccan Theist is someone who believes in the Wicca, ect ect ect. One could be a Theist in multiple faiths, but this is very often not the case at all.
Now why would someone be telling you about the differences between atheism and theism in a board about Gnostic Practition. Well, that is simple. Gnostic, and Agnostic are titles that go BEFORE Atheism and Theism.
Gnostic, means Knowledge essentially. I am a gnostic about Oxygen because I know about oxygen. I am Agnostic about Willy Wonka riding a unicorn because I have no fucking idea if that ever happened ((Probably not, but you get the point)).
How this ties in? There is a Spectrum between Theist and Atheist, as well as reasons why someone is what they are.
And Agnostic Atheist is someone who Does not believe in a God(s) because they don't know. They have never been given proof. Science itself runs very strongly on this system because a Scientist does not know until shown otherwise. Many Agnostic Atheists often want proof of the existence of a higher being. They do very rarely enjoy the idea of nothing happening to them when they die, and them just ceasing to exist entirely. They will not however take a faith without knowledge that it is actually true. Many of them often are seem as argumentative, because they ask difficult questions that most every religious person cannot answer, and that is simply "Is there proof your god exists, other than your word. Can you prove they exist via the scientific method".
A Gnostic Athiest is someone who does not believe, because they know a god does not believe, and these people are often as stubborn and obnoxious as those stret preachers you see on the road, or your great aunt Cathy who is always telling you that you will go to hell if you don't accept the lord jebus into your heart.
As you can probably piece together, a Gnostic Theist is someone who believes in a god because they also know one exists. Most times they know simply due to a book written over 4000 years ago telling them that this invisible man lives in the sky and watches everything you will ever do.
And Agnostic Theist is probably the weirdest of the bunch, and they don't even know why they believe in what they believe. They just do. You have the highest chances of finding these people if you know someone who has been raised by a religious division, but can't successfully answer why they do. They were just raised to believe and that is about it. They will often need the most help as their beliefs are essentially a house built on a sand dune.
The more you know!
time to get to work.