Agnosticism Quotes
- Indeed, I am a free rider, but only in the freedom from one set of cultural traditions usually gathered under the umbrella of religion. But, like everyone else, I face judges that are in their own ways transcendent and powerful: family and friends, colleagues and peers, mentors and teachers, and society at large. My judges may be lowercased and occasionally deceivable, but they are transcendent of me as an individual, even if they are not transcendent of nature; as such, together, we all stand in a long pilgrim community struggling down the evoloutionary and historical ages trying to live and love and learn to temper our temptations and do the right thing. I may be free from God, but the god of nature holds me to her temple of judgment no less than her other creations. I stand before my maker and judge not in some distant and future ethereal world, but in the reality of this world, a world inhabited not by spiritual and supernatural ephemera, but by real people whose lives are directly affected by my actions, and whose actions directly affect my life.” (Written in respone to a review by Michael Novak, discussed in Shermer’s The Science of Good and Evil.) - View Quote Details on Indeed, I am a free rider, but only in the…
- We should be agnostic about those things for which there is no evidence. We should not hold beliefs merely because they gratify our desires for afterlife, immortality, heaven, hell, etc. - View Quote Details on We should be agnostic about those things for which there…
- Until I get some evidence one way or the other which is compelling to me, I’m going to have to remain an agnostic. - View Quote Details on Until I get some evidence one way or the other…
- Now I say that I am an agnostic. People think that’s pusillanimous and covering your bets. But it’s not based on any belief or yearning for an afterlife but on the fact that we actually know so little about the cosmos. It is a tribute to the complexity and, at our present stage of development, the unknowability of the universe. - View Quote Details on Now I say that I am an agnostic. People think…
- I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of ‘agnostic.’ It came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the ‘gnostic’ of Church history, who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant. To my great satisfaction the term took. - View Quote Details on I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be…
- The person who admits that he does not know, is consequently open to learning. - View Quote Details on The person who admits that he does not know, is…
- I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure - that is all that agnosticism means. - View Quote Details on I do not consider it an insult, but rather a…
- I am a skeptic about everything, including God and atheism. I am not certain about issues of cosmology. Sometimes I believe that our universe is the result of random forces. Other times I believe that there must be some order or purpose, though I do not begin to understand what or who it could be. I do not expect that these cosmic doubts will ever be resolved in my mind. I am more certain that the miraculous stories that form the basis of most religious beliefs are myths. Yet I respect the Bible and enjoy reading and teaching it. Indeed, I find it even more fascinating as a human creation than as a divine revelation. I consider myself a committed Jew, but I do not believe that being a Jew requires belief in the supernatural. When I attend synagogue, as I often do, or conduct Sabbath, Passover, or Chanukah services at home, I recite prayers. I am comfortable with these apparent contradictions. I am part of a long tradition that links to my heritage through the words and melodies of prayer. Indeed, it is while praying that I experience my greatest doubts about God, and it is while looking at the stars that I make the leap of faith. But it is not faith in the empirical truths of religious stories or in the authority of hierarchical religious organizations. If there is a governing force, He (or She or It) is certainly not in touch with those who purport to be speaking on His behalf. - View Quote Details on I am a skeptic about everything, including God and atheism…
- As a matter of fact, no one knows that God exists and no one knows that God does not exist. To my mind there is no evidence that God exists - that this world is governed by a being of infinite goodness, wisdom and power, but I do not pretend to know. - View Quote Details on As a matter of fact, no one knows that God…
- Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality. - View Quote Details on Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of…
- In matters of the intellect follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration… and do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the agnostic faith, which if a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall not be ashamed to look the universe in the face, whatever the future may have in store for him. - View Quote Details on In matters of the intellect follow your reason as far…
- A theory about knowledge and not about religion. - View Quote Details on A theory about knowledge and not about religion.
- [O]ne should not have the arrogance to declare that God does not exist. - View Quote Details on [O]ne should not have the arrogance to declare that God…
- I don’t know whether or not God exists, but I don’t deny the possibility (on the other hand, I do deny that any God that has any personal interest in us as individuals exists — you simply have to look around at the horrors of the world to know that that can’t be true). - View Quote Details on I don’t know whether or not God exists, but I…
- Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. - View Quote Details on Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her…
- When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist or a pantheist, a materialist or an idealist, a Christian or a freethinker, I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer. The one thing on which most of these good people were agreed was the one thing in which I differed from them. They were quite sure they had attained a certain ‘gnosis’ — had more or less successfully, solved the problem of existence; while I was quite sure that I had not, and had a pretty strong conviction that the problem was insoluble. - View Quote Details on When I reached intellectual maturity, and began to ask myself…
- It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what agnosticism asserts. - View Quote Details on It is wrong for a man to say that he…
- Atheism - View Quote Details on Atheism
About Agnosticism
Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning “without” and gnosis, “knowledge”, translating to unknowable) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities — is unknown or (possibly) inherently unknowable. Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the doctrine of gnosis and Gnosticism — these are religious concepts that are not generally related to agnosticism. Agnostics claim either that it is not possible to have absolute or certain knowledge or, alternatively, that while certainty may be possible, they personally have no knowledge. Agnosticism in both cases involves some form of skepticism.
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