Agnostic is ... The basics of agnosticism

Nowadays you can often hear the term "agnostic". The meaning of the word can be arbitrarily explained as "unknowable". And this translation conveys the very essence of agnosticism.

Agnostic is a person who considers it impossible to know reality differently than through the existing subjective experience. In other words, if we consider this term in relation to religion, then the position of the agnostic sounds like this: "I do not know if there is a god or does not exist, and I believe that none of the people living on Earth can have such knowledge." Such people approach the questions of faith from a logical point of view, arguing that reality in itself is unknowable to man. Therefore, the agnostic is a person who does not believe in the provability or refutability of abstract judgments.

The agnostic prefers not to reason, but to bring logical arguments and evidence. Often it is confused with atheists, but this is fundamentally not true. Agnostic is not a person who denies divine and supernatural phenomena. This is the one who considers it impossible both to prove and to refute them.

Therefore, he does not deny the possibility of the existence of higher forces, but he also does not have confidence in the opposite. Agnostic is a person occupying an intermediate position between believing people and atheists, sweeping aside all religious questions because of their unknowability.

Later agnosticism formed ignosticism - a theological teaching based on the fact that one can not unequivocally claim about his faith or disbelief in God, while the very word "god" has no definite meaning. The Ignostics believe that many people give this word a different meaning. And in view of this it is impossible to understand what the person speaking about God means - the supreme intelligence, vital energy, religious character or something else. Therefore, the ignostics finally separate themselves and their views on life from the questions of religion, arguing that they do not understand what God is.

Despite the fact that the agnostic is a person alien to religion, some of them still consider themselves to be different teachings. As a rule, there are philosophical currents that manipulate psychological concepts and call on people to seek harmony with themselves and the surrounding world, such as Buddhism or Taoism. But there are also agnostics accepting the ideology of Christianity, Hinduism and other Gnostic teachings. The only difference is that they project useful ideas and principles into their lives, without touching the "divine" side of philosophy. Agnostic can safely take as a basis of his life that religious teaching, the principles of which he considers correct and justified from a logical, and not from a theological point of view.

So, the agnostic is a person who perceives objective reality through subjective experience and does not recognize the possibility of other kinds of knowledge. It is impossible to judge whether they are right or not. As a rule, agnostics are condemned by both the materialists and the church. But, if you think about it, their concept is quite reasonable and justified. And none of those who are now living on Earth can say with accuracy whether it is correct.