AGNOSTIC
What Is the Definition of Agnostic in the Context of Bible Terms?
The word "agnostic" does not appear in the English Bible. The term derives, however, from Greek roots suggesting the idea "not known."
When Paul visited Athens, he noted that the pagans there had erected an altar to an "unknown" (agnostos) god (Acts 17:23). The apostle used that inscription as the basis of his sermon, in which he proclaimed to them the known God!
Paul used a kindred form of the word in his epistle to the saints at Corinth when he charged that some have "no knowledge" (agnosia ) of God (1 Cor. 15:34). Peter employed the same term for the "ignorance" of certain foolish men (1 Pet. 2:15).
In a philosophical sense, an agnostic asserts that there is insufficient evidence to confidently affirm the existence of God. Hence, man cannot know, one way or the other, whether there is a supreme Being. Such an ideology was not endorsed by the great personalities of scripture (cf. Psa. 46:10; 2 Tim. 1:12), and it ignores a vast library of evidence that testifies otherwise, informing us of the truth.
When Paul visited Athens, he noted that the pagans there had erected an altar to an "unknown" (agnostos) god (Acts 17:23). The apostle used that inscription as the basis of his sermon, in which he proclaimed to them the known God!
Paul used a kindred form of the word in his epistle to the saints at Corinth when he charged that some have "no knowledge" (
In a philosophical sense, an agnostic asserts that there is insufficient evidence to confidently affirm the existence of God. Hence, man cannot know, one way or the other, whether there is a supreme Being. Such an ideology was not endorsed by the great personalities of scripture (cf. Psa. 46:10; 2 Tim. 1:12), and it ignores a vast library of evidence that testifies otherwise, informing us of the truth.
