Agnostic theism

Agnostic theism is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. Per theism, an agnostic theist believes that the proposition "at least one deity exists" is true, but, per agnosticism, believes that the existence of gods are unknown or inherently unknowable. The agnostic theist may also or alternatively be agnostic regarding the properties of the god(s) they believe in. [http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/a/theism.htm Introduction to Agnosticism: What is Agnostic Theism? Believing in God, but not Knowing God ] ]

Views of agnostic theism

There are numerous beliefs that can be included in agnostic theism, including Fideism, however not all agnostic theists are Fideists. It is possible to be a Christian agnostic, an Islamic agnostic, a Zoroastrian agnostic or simply an agnostic, non-religious person. However, all these combinations are similar, in that to be an agnostic theist one must encompass doubt in the existence of God or the ability to prove that there is a god.

The belief in God can have a wide swath of reasons for believing, such as the belief in a personal god or singular god. However, there can also be doubt based upon the authenticity of all other religions (In other words, a belief and philosophy that there are so many religions that either all or none must be correct). An agnostic theist may have a belief with admittedly several flaws in its ability to be proven, but persist in believing it out of personal philosophy. Agnostic theism can also exist in the belief of Voltaire’s god in deism or in any distant non-interacting god belief.

Agnostic theism could possibly also include theists who have some doubt in their own religious beliefs, due to scientific criticism. Although science cannot disprove religion, it sometimes conflicts with some creationist interpretations of the Bible and other religious texts.

A believing agnostic theist's polar opposite could be another agnostic atheist who has no way of proving or disproving a god or many gods and therefore disbelieves in him or finds it highly unlikely for such a supernatural being to exist.

The classical philosophical understanding of knowledge is that knowledge is justified true belief. By this definition, it is reasonable to assert that one may hold a belief, and that belief may be true, without asserting that one knows it. Agnostic theism could be interpreted as an admission that it is not possible to justify one's belief in God or gods sufficiently for it to be considered known.

*According to fideism this logic statement was used::* Christian theology teaches that people are saved by faith in the Christian God (i.e., trust in the empirically unprovable).:* But, if the Christian God's existence can be proven, either empirically or logically, to that extent faith becomes unnecessary or irrelevant.:* Therefore, if Christian theology is true, no immediate proof of the Christian God's existence is possible.:see also Sola fide
*According to Faith: "Faith, by its very nature, requires belief outside of known fact."
*According to Existence of God: Agnosticism "Agnostics may or may not still believe in gods based on fideilistic convictions."

ee also

*Belief
*Deism
*Doubt: Philosophy and ethics
*Epistemology: Belief
*Faith
*Fideism
*Ietsism
*Knowledge
*Negative theology
*Pascal's wager
*Sola fide
*Truth
*Unknown god

References

External links

* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/ Epistemology] - from [http://plato.stanford.edu/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-03 AGNOSTICISM] - from [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html Dictionary of the History of Ideas]