09/30/2026
• Gnostic: Comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge". A gnostic claims to possess direct, personal, or spiritual knowledge about the existence of gods or the nature of the universe.
• Agnostic: Comes from the Greek prefix a- (without) plus gnosis (knowledge). An agnostic claims that the ultimate truth is unknown or inherently unknowable.
Knowledge vs. Belief
In modern philosophical and secular debates, these terms describe what you know, whereas words like theist and atheist describe what you believe.
• Gnostic Theist: Believes a god exists and claims to know it for a fact.
• Agnostic Theist: Believes a god exists, but admits they do not know for sure.
• Gnostic Atheist: Believes no gods exist and claims to know this as a fact.
• Agnostic Atheist: Does not believe in any gods, but does not claim absolute knowledge that no gods exist.
Historical Context
• Gnosticism: Refers to a collection of ancient mystical religious movements (flourishing in the 1st through 4th centuries) that taught salvation comes through secret or higher spiritual knowledge (gnosis) rather than faith.
• Agnosticism: Coined in the 19th century by Thomas Henry Huxley, this philosophical stance asserts that human reason is currently incapable of providing rational grounds to justify the belief that God either does or does not exist.