[kecks]

An atheist doesn't believe in the existence of god(s); a theist is the opposite and believes in the existence of god(s). The difference lies in lack of faith v. faith.

An agnostic believes it's not possible to be sure whether one or more gods exist.

Combinations are possibly; an agnostic theist believes in the existence of gods, but also thinks it's impossible to be sure.

There are also apathetic agnostics; they don't know nor care whether one or more gods exist. This usually seems to go with atheism.

I suppose there should also be a word like nontheists; those who have faith in the non-existence of gods.

[tremon]

An atheist doesn't believe in the existence of god(s)

Rather, an atheist believes in the non-existence of gods. We don't need a word like non-theist because we already have a word for it.

[Nadya]

>Rather, an atheist believes in the non-existence of gods. We don't need a word like non-theist because we already have a word for it.

No. That would be a gnostic atheist. One who claims to know and doesn't believe.

Nearly every single atheist I know, and it is generally a safe assumption to make [0], is an agnostic atheist. One who doesn't believe but claims to not know for sure.

If you ask me if gnomes exist, I will tell you I am a gnostic atheist. I am certain in my knowledge that gnomes do not exist, and thus I have no reason to believe in them. If you ask me if god(s) exists, I will tell you I am an agnostic atheist. I am uncertain in my knowledge that a god does or does not exist, but I have no reason to believe that one does.

And yes - there can be agnostic theists too! Although they are the minority as most theists claim to "know" and that knowledge is why they believe. So theists are assumed to be gnostic theists unless they state otherwise. My grandmother is the only person I've ever known to claim to be an agnostic theist. She claims to not know but finds comfort in believing. She doesn't follow any major world religion and her god is not a god of any scripture.

[0] It's the vast majority and so "agnostic" is usually superfluous and unnecessary in conversation. I only ever see it brought up when a theist tries to claim the Atheist is really just a Theist who "believes in some opposite thing". Then the difference has to be pointed out like I've done in this post.

[tremon]

If you ask me if gnomes exist, I will tell you I am a gnostic atheist

gnostic agnomist, I presume?

As for the rest, sorry, I don't subscribe to Smith's redefinitions as I'm not sure the distinctions make practical sense. More specifically, I don't support the definition of "agnostic theist" because in the context of religion, there is no distinction between "knowing" and "believing". An "agnostic theist" would be someone who still subscribes to the same religious identity and the distinction is therefore purely academic. Moreover, religions already have words to describe agnostics within their ranks: they're considered lost sheep, apostates or even heretics (depending on which religion and strength of its convictions).

Finally: the term "gnostic" has already been coined and does not mean the opposite of "agnostic". Gnosticism is a theist philosophy closely related to Christianity.

[goldbrick]

I have never known a self-proclaimed atheist to actually say as much. This is purely a line toted about by those who wish to paint "atheists" in a certain light ("they're just as irrational as we!").

[tremon]

Then again, do you know many Christians who explicitly signal their beliefs like that? I think they're much more likely to say "Jesus is the son of God" than "I believe Jesus is the son of God".

It's rather uncommon for any follower of faith to preface their beliefs with "I believe". If they preface them at all, they're much more likely to use "I know", or "$authority says".

[dllthomas]

> Then again, do you know many Christians who explicitly signal their beliefs like that?

All of them that recite the Nicene Creed or some derivative...

[tremon]

Interesting. I'd never heard of it.

[goldbrick]

Doesn't matter.

When given the choice between

"I believe that God doesn't exist"

and

"I don't believe that God exists"

>99% of atheists would choose the latter as better representing their personal stance on the matter. Further, almost all would additionally agree that if there were evidence for God's existence, they would believe.

The concept of "faith" is not one that resonates with atheists. Christians however, love to pretend that disbelieving requires just as much magical thinking as believing, and this is a classic example.