 |
| Except for Hemingway, none of these men were atheists... |
Many historical figures are falsely reported as being atheists when they were not. Most of them were actually theists who simply believed in an unconventional conception of God, or they were agnostic.
This is not to say that they were all theists. Certainly there were atheists in history who were, nevertheless, great men and women.
Below is a list of people in history who are often described as atheists, even though they were not. Click their names to read about the religious views.
This list will be added to in the future.
- Charles Darwin - Theist/Agnostic
- Thomas Jefferson - Theist
- Carl Sagan - Agnostic
- Albert Einstein - Theist
- Benjamin Franklin - Theist
- Mark Twain - Theist
- Abraham Lincoln - Theist
- John Adams - Theist
- Thomas Edison - Theist
- Nikola Tesla - Theist
2 comments:
Vast majority of atheists in the world are agnostic atheists. I can't know a god doesn't exist or does exists, but I know all religious concepts presented to me are without believable evidence. SO I do not have a belief in a god.
All agnostics by definition are also atheist.
Atheists and agnostics may share one characteristic -- that they do not believe that there is a god -- but the similarity ends there. They are not the same thing. The main difference being that atheism makes the claim that "There is no God." Agnostics, however, make no claim at all. In philosophy, that is a HUGE difference. One makes a claim, one does not.
In other words, there is a huge difference between, "I do not have a belief in God," to quote you, and, "I believe there is no God."
In other other words, not believing that there is a God is not the same as believing that there is no God.
A perfect example of this is Carl Sagan, he did not believe that there was a God, but he was adament about the fact that he was "not an atheist" and described atheism as "very stupid."
An "agnostic atheist" is not an atheist, they are agnostic, and I'll tell you why. If you make the claim that there is no God, then you are an atheist. If you claim uncertainty, then you are agnostic. If your opinion, summed up, is "I don't know," then you are agnostic.
Someone who says, "I can't know a god doesn't exist or does exist, but I know all religious concepts presented to me are without believable evidence. SO I do not have a belief in a god," is not an atheist, they are agnostic because they are not making a claim about the actual state of things. They are only claiming that they do not know, and have no reason to come to a conclusion.
They are not saying, "I believe there is no God." They are saying, "I do not believe that there is a God."
Post a Comment
Is there something here you like (or dislike)? Let me know! Your opinion matters!