Agnostic theism - Your thoughts on this?

[solarwave]

Hi solarwave. You should win some sort of trophy for your avatar. Have you seen 'Dark Nite's' avatar?

Haha, thanks, I might have seen their avatar, but I can't remember.

My point is that one cannot logically be both a Christian and an Agnostic simultaneously. Perhaps one could be a "Jesus-leaning Agnostic", but a Christian is a follower of the teachings of Jesus (Yeshua). Until one 'signs on', freely confessing that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, who voluntarily offered up His life as a sacrifice for our sins, shedding His very blood for our redemption, and arose from the dead, how could he remotely call himself a Christian.

I don't know a lot about Christian agnosticism, but from what I read it seem to me that they think that some aspects of God cannot be proven, but nevertheless by faith believe. It would seem that Kierkegaard might come under this definition and he was a Christian.

"They hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith." Doubt is a fact of life. We will all have doubt on some level, up until the day we die. Faith exists in the presence of doubt.

A Christian agnostic may agree with.

Ah, back to my original post. "a special relationship and in some way divine. These statements couldn't be more vague considering how deeply the Bible addresses these points, and there is no lack of detail. "Special" relationship? I'm thinking Moses, David, Solomon, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Peter, John, James, etc. "In some way divine. Why are these assertions so very vague and impotent?? These sort of statements minimize who Jesus is and what He did for us. (Please refer back to my original post.)

Well at the beginning of the church they had to argue about what exactly Jesus' relationship was to the Father and so couldn't this be seen as another way of phrasing that question?

 

[Beth-Zur]

Hi Solarwave! This is Dark Lite's avatar. Cousins??

"I don't know a lot about Christian agnosticism, but from what I read it seem to me that they think that some aspects of God cannot be proven, but nevertheless by faith believe. It would seem that Kierkegaard might come under this definition and he was a Christian."

"...some aspects of God cannot be proven, but nevertheless by faith believe." This, to me, describes a Christian. Any honest Christian will admit to times of doubt.

My thought is that a person cannot be a Christian and an Agnostic at the same point in time.

"Agnosticism

Agnosticism is a philosophical position that the existence of God is not knowable. The word “agnosticism” comes from the Greek ‘a’ meaning without and ‘gnosis’ meaning knowledge. It literally means "without knowledge," but is usually applied to the topic of God.

Agnosticism is really a subdivision of atheism. Since atheism denies the existence of God, agnosticism does the same thing by not affirming God's existence.

Weak agnosticism says that God is simply not known if he exists at all. Strong agnosticism says that God cannot be known. C.A.R.M. Dictionary of Theology"


"Christian

The word Christian comes from the Greek word christianos which is derived from the word christos, or Christ, which means "anointed one." A Christian, then, is someone who is a follower of Christ. The first use of the word "Christian" in the Bible is found in Acts 11:26, "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." It is found only twice more in Acts 26:28 and 1 Pet. 4:16. However, it is important to note that it is the true Christ that makes someone a Christian, not the Mormon one (brother of the devil, see Mormon Beliefs for more information), or the Jehovah's Witnesses one (Michael the Archangel), the New Age Jesus (a man in tune with the divine Christ Consciousness), etc.

The true Christ is God in flesh (John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 1:8): Jesus."

We can see, now, that Agnosticism asserts that God is simply "not known if he exists at all", or more strongly, that God "cannot be known", whereas Christianity speaks of a person being a follower of Jesus, not a speculator.

Agnosticism addresses the existence of God, contrasted with Christianity, which describes the belief in and practice of following Jesus. A Christian is "on board", while an Agnostic, "simply not knowing if he exists, cannot logically be considered a follower, a believer.

The true Christ is God made flesh: Jesus.

"Agnosticism is a mindset, Christianity is a practice."​

Here's a video you might enjoy. Peace.

‪REVEALED! -The Secret Name of Jesus - (Hidden Code- Hebrew Ideograms)‬‏ - YouTube

 

[Hakan101]

Beth-Zur, I have been reading this thread for a while and I have similar views as you on Christian Agnosticism.

I can understand Agnostic Theism, where one acknowledges the existence of a higher power but also that they cannot discern the qualities of that power. But Christians know the qualities of God, I think if God's qualities were unknown we would not have accepted Christ as our savior. If Christian Agnostics acknowledge they cannot prove anything about God but believe anyways, well, that's what all Christians do, right? We live by faith, even when I say "Christians know the qualities of God", I don't mean they have irrefutable proof. I mean they that believe the qualities spoken of God are true.

So what is the distinction between Christian Agnostics and Christians? Right now they just seem like other Christians.

 

[elman]

"Agnostic theism is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist believes the proposition at least one deity exists is true, but per agnosticism also believes that this proposition is unknown or inherently unknowable. The agnostic theist may also or alternatively be agnostic regarding the properties of the god(s) they believe in.[1]...

Christian Agnostics (distinct from a Christian who is agnostic) practice a distinct form of agnosticism that applies only to the properties of God. They hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith."

- Agnostic theism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Is anyone here familiar with this subject? Does anyone think they fall into that category?

I am a Christian Agnostic. I don't see how it is possible to be anything else since Christianity is based on faith and not knowledge of facts.

 

[Beth-Zur]

Hi Hakan101!

I don't know who comes up with all these "hybrid" classifications. But when we get right down to it, a person is either in a state of Redemption or he is not. It really doesn't matter what label, denomination, sect, etc, a person subscribes to, but rather the condition of their spirit before the Living God.

btw: There was a time when I called myself an Agnostic, and I can guarantee you I was not remotely close to being Redeemed, and since I accepted Jesus, I can in no wise consider myself an agnostic, no way. The more time goes by, the more I find myself unmistakably in His presence, steadily shrinking any doubt.

These days my doubts do not concern themselves with whether God is real, but things like, while on the cross, when He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me??? That one made me pretty uncomfortable for awhile. I knew it was a knowledge deficit on my part, a lack of understanding. Then one day I had the answer just drop in my lap. (I wasn't even thinking about it at the time.). So most of my doubts these days run along those lines, with a few exceptions.

Shalom.

 

[elman]

Hi Hakan101!

I don't know who comes up with all these "hybrid" classifications. But when we get right down to it, a person is either in a state of Redemption or he is not. It really doesn't matter what label, denomination, sect, etc, a person subscribes to, but rather the condition of their spirit before the Living God.

btw: There was a time when I called myself an Agnostic, and I can guarantee you I was not remotely close to being Redeemed, and since I accepted Jesus, I can in no wise consider myself an agnostic, no way. The more time goes by, the more I find myself unmistakably in His presence, steadily shrinking any doubt.

These days my doubts do not concern themselves with whether God is real, but things like, while on the cross, when He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me??? That one made me pretty uncomfortable for awhile. I knew it was a knowledge deficit on my part, a lack of understanding. Then one day I had the answer just drop in my lap. (I wasn't even thinking about it at the time.). So most of my doubts these days run along those lines, with a few exceptions.

Shalom.

James 3:2 We all make many mistakes in theology. Look at the sheep and the goats in Matt 25--both were surprised. Perhaps we cannot be absolutly certain when we think we are redeemed.