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Podcaster t1_irbog51 wrote

Reply to comment by Sate_Hen in David Mitchell on Atheism by Huntstark

I don’t think you understand the concept of Gnosticism if you believe a person can be a gnostic atheist. Gnostic atheism is an oxymoron.

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Sate_Hen t1_irbp0sj wrote

OK Fair dos. I was under the impression Gnosticism was about being sure in whatever beliefs you had, I didn't realise it was specific to religious beliefs

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Tersphinct t1_irbq1b6 wrote

> Gnostic atheism is an oxymoron.

Is it? I thought some versions of Japanese Shinto are considered godless (atheistic), but there's a belief in supernatural beings or spirits that reside in otherwise inanimate objects.

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comingabout t1_irbqilj wrote

Doesn't gnostic basically mean "to know" and agnostic mean "to not know"?

So a gnostic atheist is someone that claims to know there isn't a god and isn't religious while an agnostic atheist is someone that doesn't claim to know that there isn't a god and also isn't religious.

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Podcaster t1_irbrigp wrote

Not quite. Gnosis implies knowledge of god or spiritual matters. Divine knowledge.

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deletion-imminent t1_irbseqa wrote

You are talking about Gnosticism, not gnosticism.

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Tersphinct t1_irf9551 wrote

In the context of religion it's often meant to be a recognition of deities, not the degree of certainty you have in their existence.

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Podcaster t1_irbsyud wrote

I don’t believe I was in this particular manner. I didn’t realize there was a difference but as far as I’m aware my concepts still check out.

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