The absence of belief in a god The prefix "a" means "without" The term "theo" (or thei) means "god" So, a-theism literally means "without god-ism" An atheist does not necessarily say that he "knows" there is no god An atheist simply does not hold a belief in a god, for whatever reason
Belief that god does not exist Recommended Reading: Antony Flew, Atheistic Humanism (Prometheus, 1993) {at Amazon com}; Atheism, ed by S T Joshi (Prometheus, 2000) {at Amazon com}; Michael Martin, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification (Temple, 1992) {at Amazon com}; and J J C Smart and J J Haldane, Atheism and Theism (Blackwell, 1996) {at Amazon com} Also see Theodore M Drange, OCP, BGHT, Fredrick Benz, ColE, Emma Goldman, ISM, noesis, and MacE
This word comes from two Greek words, a the negator, and theos, God Atheism teaches that there is no God of any kind, anywhere, anytime Logically, an atheist would be an evolutionist The Bible teaches that all men know there is a God (Rom 2: 14,15) Therefore, they will be without excuse (Rom 1: 20) on the day of judgment Instead, atheists willingly suppress the knowledge of God by their unrighteousness (Rom 1: 18,19)
Atheism is the belief that there is no God. Compare agnosticism. agnosticism (agnostic). Critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or divine beings. Unlike agnosticism, which leaves open the question of whether there is a God, atheism is a positive denial. It is rooted in an array of philosophical systems. Ancient Greek philosophers such as Democritus and Epicurus argued for it in the context of materialism. In the 18th century David Hume and Immanuel Kant, though not atheists, argued against traditional proofs for God's existence, making belief a matter of faith alone. Atheists such as Ludwig Feuerbach held that God was a projection of human ideals and that recognizing this fiction made self-realization possible. Marxism exemplified modern materialism. Beginning with Friedrich Nietzsche, existentialist atheism proclaimed the death of God and the human freedom to determine value and meaning. Logical positivism holds that propositions concerning the existence or nonexistence of God are nonsensical or meaningless
The lack of belief in a god and/or the belief that there is no god The position held by a person or persons that 'lack belief' in god(s) and/or deny that god(s) exist
either 1 Belief that there are no gods, known as Strong or Positive Atheism, or 2 Lack of belief in any gods, known as Weak or Negative Atheism While accurate statistics are impossible to get, it is likely that Negative Atheism is the majority; it is the natural state of human belief See also Agnosticism, Theism