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Atheism
absence of belief in the existence of deities; the opposite of theism / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Atheism is rejecting the belief in a God or gods.[1][2] It is the opposite of theism, which is the belief that at least one god exists. A person who rejects belief in gods is called an atheist. Adding an a, meaning "without", before the word theism results in atheism, or literally, "without theism".
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Atheism is not the same as agnosticism: agnostics say that there is no way to know whether gods exist or not.[3] Being an agnostic does not have to mean a person rejects or believes in god. Some agnostics are theists, believing in god. The theologian Kierkegaard is an example. Other agnostics are atheists. Gnosticism refers to a claim of knowledge. A gnostic has sufficient knowledge to make a claim. Adding an a, meaning "without", before the word gnostic results in agnostic, or literally, "without knowledge".
While theism refers to belief in one or more gods, gnosticism refers to knowledge.[4] In practice, most people simply identify as a theist, atheist, or agnostic.