The existence of God has always been a bewildering concept among all people. While some believe in God no matter what, some people deny God’s existence and see it as a concept made by man.
Atheism vs Agnosticism
The difference between Atheism and Agnosticism is that Atheism straightaway rules out the existence of God, and no thoughts, perspectives, or examples can change their mind. On the other hand, in Agnosticism, the existence of God relies on proofs and facts, meaning, if someone provides Agnosticists with valid proof or convincible perception about God’s existence, they might alter their beliefs.
Want to save this article for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own articles box!
They strictly deny the concept of God and instead think that it is a concept made by man. They also stated that since there is no proof of God’s existence, there is no God.
It relies on the presence of proof and even considers facts, theories, and perspectives to base its judgement on the existence of God. They can be regarded as being midway between Atheism and Theism.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Atheism | Agnosticism |
|---|---|---|
| About | It does not believe in god. | It is not claiming to agree with the existence of God. |
| Proofing | States that there is no proof of God’s existence, and so there’s no God. | States no proof is required to know whether God exists or not. |
| Approach | In atheism, it is of no concern what a person believes and why. | In Agnosticism, it matters how a person approaches a belief. |
| Benefit of doubt. | Atheism vehemently denies the existence of God and so does not leave benefit of doubt. | Agnosticism believes in pondering over different perspectives and thoughts, therefore giving benefit of the doubt. |
| Afterlife | Believe that there is no life after death. | Cannot come to a conclusion about the afterlife and the purpose of life. |
What is Atheism?
Atheism is basically a belief system that claims to know or believe that there is no God. This strictly believes in the concept that there is no god and everything that is happening around them is due to a scientific reason or any other reason but not because of God.
There are some atheists who think about God mythology and other people’s perspectives and then come to the decision of not believing in God. Still, some atheists straightaway deny God’s existence without giving it much of a thought.
Further to this, they also do not believe in the concept of an afterlife. Atheism believes that there is no purpose for man’s birth and his life is just a biological phenomenon.
What is Agnosticism?
Agnosticism is not seen entirely as a belief system but considered as a theory of knowledge. They rely on perspectives and proof for their final claim of believing in God or not.
According to the definition which he gave at Britain’s Metaphysical Society, agnosticism is science’s essence, and no man must be compelled to say or express his belief or knowledge, which he cannot prove scientifically or conclude with valid points.
Atheism is a system that does not have a conclusion about God’s existence and states that man cannot extend its boundaries of knowledge about the universe beyond experiencing it for sensing it. Unlike atheists who clearly say that they do not believe in god, Agnostics never claim their final answer on whether they believe in the existence of god or not.
Main Differences Between Atheism and Agnosticism
- Atheism strictly rules out that God exists and so also does not have room for the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, Agnosticism tries to consider thoughts and perspectives before concluding and, therefore, benefits from the doubt.
- In atheism, it is not believed that there is life after death or an ‘afterlife’, whereas, in Agnosticism, people cannot conclude anything about their belief in an afterlife.
I’ve put so much effort writing this blog post to provide value to you. It’ll be very helpful for me, if you consider sharing it on social media or with your friends/family. SHARING IS ♥️
Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
