Agnostic

I've had several discussions with atheists and agnostics.

The best way that I know to classify them are:

Theistic agnostics - those who believe that we cannot know if there is a God or not, but would lean toward there being one.

Atheistic agnostics - those who believe that we cannot know if there is a God or not, but would lean against there being one.

Atheists - who believe with some certainty (although some inconsistent atheists will say they know for sure) that God does not exist in any shape or form.

Although some agnostics will say, "I don't care," that alone doesn't make them agnostic or atheistic.

Does that help?

 

Challenging, but not as hard as talking to someone who has a strong belief in a false religion or cult.

If you think about Agnostics like a person who believes in the possibility of God but has never read the Bible or had experience with church etc. Then it should make it easier to figure out how to talk to them.

 

Yes, quite a few times. A close family member claims agnosticism. I have also talked to a number of others throughout the years.

That's worse than an agnostic, that's someone who is apathetic.

I think Scott gave you a pretty good basic rundown of the major positions.

In my experience, many "atheists" and "agnostics" were raised in church but have left for one reason or another. Many times those who have left the church have been severely hurt by people in the church and have interpreted their hurtful experience as coming from God. Rigid graceless fundamentalism produces many of these people since the authority for these hurtful actions is often alleged to come directly from the throne of God.

In the case of my family member, the situation involved profound hypocrisy and predatory sin among several persons in the church (one of them was the senior pastor) that was not immediately confronted by the leadership in the church.

Unfortunately, that's not an isolated case. I could tell you lots of awful stories about this kind of corruption in the church and pastors who were too cowardly or apathetic to take a stand.

 

no, but one of my favorite joes is about the dysletic agnostic insomniac who laid awake at night wondering if there really is a dog!

 

Yes, I have. An Agnostic is a person who is not sure if there's a God or not, and has no desire to find out. One must wait until the person is moved (by the Holy Spirit, presumably) to find out more. Otherwise, you're spinning your wheels.

It would be best to let the way you live your life be your witness. It usually speaks louder, too.

 

An agnostic is a person who says that he knows nothing about God and, when you agree with him, he becomes angry.

 

A lot of good replies here. I don't know if it will help or not, but here is where I'm at right now. I am corresponding via email, with some type of agnostic. He seems to lean toward there being a God, but also shows that 'I don't care' attitude part of the time. Sometimes, however, he asks questions, and sincerely seems to want to believe. He says that God has let him down - has not shown him that He cares or exists. This person is miserable, but insists that he doesn't have enough faith to believe. At this point in our discussion, I'm mostly trying to be a friend to him, and will discuss whatever he brings up and try to answer his questions as best I can. He has a really negative attitude about himself, and says that I will "give up" on him. He also said that part of him hopes that he will be able to believe. Any suggestions are welcome!

 

Many titles. But the bottom line is either you Believe in God or you don't.

What is not of God is evil.

Either you have "salvation" or you do not. No inbetween.

God Bless
Sherrie

 

This person already KNOWS there is a God. Otherwise; how could God have let him down?

He sounds more like a disallusioned believer than an agnostic.