What is a religious Agnostic?

An Agnostic is not someone who “lacks” knowledge of the existence or non-existence of God. This oft-repeated misunderstanding goes back to Thomas Huxley, who coined the term, but who has no proprietary claim to the meaning of the word. Indeed, if Huxley were right, we’d all be Agnostics by definition. But Huxley confuses the Greek “gnossos” with “episteme,” two very different types of knowledge.

“Episteme” is what we might call knowledge arising from empirical (sensory) experience, which then might rise to the level of scientific knowledge if it survives testing. Gnossos, however, is the kind of knowledge that one has when one knows a secret. This is how the ancient Gnostics got their name. The Gnostics believed that, in order to be saved, it was necessary to receive mystical knowledge of the divine secret.

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The Gnostics lost and the Roman Church won, and secret knowledge is no longer necessary for salvation; in that sense (unless there is a Gnostic cult out there somewhere), all persons of faith are ag-Gnostic, non-Gnostic. But if there is no secret knowledge of the existential status of god – and assuming we have already eliminated scientific knowledge – then, either way, what on earth could there possibly be to know?

The Agnostic does not understand why she should be expected, one way or the other, to take a stand or make a commitment on an issue where everyone is equally ignorant. What could possibly be accomplished by taking such a stand, or making such a commitment, except for the adoption of this-or-that ideology? And the Agnostic sees no reason why she must be committed to any single ideology on any particular topic.

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