View source for Philosophy:Agnostic theism

{{Short description|Philosophical view combining theism with agnosticism}}
{{Atheism and Irreligion Sidebar}}
'''Agnostic theism''', '''agnostotheism''', or '''agnostitheism''' is the philosophical view that encompasses both [[Philosophy:Theism|theism]] and [[Philosophy:Agnosticism|agnosticism]]. An agnostic theist believes in the existence of one or more gods, but regards the basis of this proposition as ''unknown or inherently unknowable''. The agnostic theist may also or alternatively be agnostic regarding the properties of the god or gods that they believe in.

==Views of agnostic theism==
[[File:Classical definition of Kno.svg|thumb|right|Agnostic theism is belief but without knowledge, as shown in purple and blue (''see'': Epistemology).]]

There are numerous [[Philosophy:Belief|belief]]s that can be included in agnostic theism, such as [[Philosophy:Fideism|fideism]], the doctrine that knowledge depends on faith or revelation; not all agnostic theists are fideists. Since agnosticism is in the philosophical rather than religious sense an [[Philosophy:Epistemology|epistemological position]] on [[Philosophy:Knowledge|knowledge]] regarding the divine and does not forbid belief in the existence of one or more deities, it is considered to be compatible with both [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheistic]] and theistic positions.<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Benn |author-first=Piers |date=December 1999 |title=Some Uncertainties about Agnosticism |editor-last=Hall |editor-first=Ronald L. |journal=International Journal for Philosophy of Religion |location=[[Place:Berlin|Berlin]] and {{wipe|New York City}} |publisher=Springer Verlag |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=171–188 |doi=10.1023/A:1003792325966 |issn=1572-8684 |jstor=40012768|s2cid=169901708 }}</ref>

The classical [[Philosophy:Epistemology|philosophical understanding of knowledge]] is that [[Philosophy:Knowledge|knowledge]] is justified true belief. The founder of [[Philosophy:Logotherapy|logotherapy]], Viktor Frankl, may have well exemplified this definition. Seidner expands upon this example and stresses Frankl's characterization of ''unconscious''.<ref>Seidner, Stanley S. (June 10, 2009) [https://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:FrKYAo88ckkJ:www.materdei.ie/media/conferences/a-secular-age-parallel-sessions-timetable.pdf+%22Stan+Seidner%22&hl=en&gl=us "A Trojan Horse: Logotherapeutic Transcendence and its Secular Implications for Theology"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501081407/http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3AFrKYAo88ckkJ%3Awww.materdei.ie%2Fmedia%2Fconferences%2Fa-secular-age-parallel-sessions-timetable.pdf+%22Stan+Seidner%22&hl=en&gl=us |date=2011-05-01 }}. ''Mater Dei Institute''.</ref> Agnostic theism could be interpreted as an admission that it is not possible to justify one's belief in a god sufficiently for it to be considered known. This may be because they consider [[Philosophy:Faith|faith]] a requirement of their religion, or because of the influence of plausible-seeming scientific or philosophical criticism.

[[Philosophy:Christian agnosticism|Christian agnostics]] practice a distinct form of agnosticism that applies only to the [[Religion:Attributes of God in Christianity|attributes of the Christian god]]. They hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith. They believe that the [[Religion:God in Christianity|Christian god]] exists, that [[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]] has a special relationship with him and is in some way divine, and that God might perhaps be worshipped. This belief system has deep roots in [[Religion:Judaism|Judaism]] and the [[Religion:History of early Christianity|early days of the Christian Church]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weatherhead |first=Leslie |title=The Christian Agnostic |date=1972 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-06977-4}}</ref>

==See also==
{{colbegin}}
*[[Philosophy:Agnostic atheism|Agnostic atheism]]
*[[Philosophy:Christian agnosticism|Christian agnosticism]]
*[[Philosophy:Cosmological argument|Cosmological argument]]
*[[Philosophy:Deism|Deism]]
*[[Philosophy:Doubt|Doubt]]: [[Philosophy:Doubt#Philosophy and ethics|Philosophy and ethics]]
*[[Philosophy:Epistemology|Epistemology]]: [[Philosophy:Epistemology#Belief|Belief]]
*[[Philosophy:Faith|Faith]]
*[[Philosophy:Fideism|Fideism]]
*[[Philosophy:Ietsism|Ietsism]]
*[[Philosophy:Ignosticism|Ignosticism]]
*Negative theology
*[[Philosophy:Numinous|Numinous]]
*[[Philosophy:Secular theology|Secular theology]]
*[[Religion:Sola fide|Sola fide]]
*[[Truth]]
*[[Philosophy:Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalism]]
*[[Religion:Unknown God|Unknown God]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/ Epistemology] - from [https://plato.stanford.edu/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
*[https://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaBook/tei/DicHist1.xml;chunk.id=dv1-03;toc.depth=1;toc.id=dv1-03;brand=default AGNOSTICISM] - from [https://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaBook/tei/DicHist1.xml;brand=default; Dictionary of the History of Ideas]

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[[Category:Agnosticism]]
[[Category:Theism]]
[[Category:Philosophy of religion]]



{{Sourceattribution|Agnostic theism}}