Is there such a thing as an "agnostic theist"?

[DetlefK]

He does believe in the existence God, but he doesn't believe that mankind can ever know for sure whether God exists.

This makes no sense to me: How can he have faith without first experiencing a gnosis (a moment of religious enlightenment)? How can he have faith while actively denying that such a thing as a gnosis even exists?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosis

[marybourg]

1. "He does believe in the existence [of] God"

He is a theist.

[DetlefK]

2. My question is: How can he at the same time be an agnostic???

[marybourg]

3. He can't. nt.

[Goblinmonger]

7. theism and gnosticism are mutually exclusive

You can be a gnostic theist (I believe in a god and it is the Christian--or other--god) or an agnostic theist (I believe in a god but I have no idea what god that is/we have not gotten it right yet).

[LongtimeAZDem]

4. Yes. Agnosticism, as defined by Huxley when he coined the term, is a process, not a verdict

It is the process of applying rational analyses to the question of the existence of a deity.

Theism is the affirmative belief in one or more deities; atheism is the lack of such an affirmative belief.

Therefore, if one concludes that they believe in a deity based on evidence and logical argument, then they are an agnostic theist; conversely, one who rejects such a conclusion by that process is an agnostic atheist.

This is in contrast to holding a belief, or lack thereof, based on emotional or wishful argument.

[TexasProgresive]

5. Yes

I seldom post in this group but here goes (nothing).

If a theist honestly understands the difference between experiential knowledge as opposed to faith i.e. belief they would come to the conclusion that they are agnostic in that they do not have experiential knowledge of the existence of God while at the same time having an inward and firm belief in God.

While neither knowledge or faith can be reconciled they can and do exist in the same person. “Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” Mark 9:24

The idea of faith in something one cannot prove is as incomprehensible to those who believe as to those who do not. This would be why those who are believers consider faith to be a gift that one cannot gain on their own. Nonbelievers on the other hand choose to think that the believer is either mentally deficient, histerical or lacks in basic intelligence. Never the twain shall meet.

[Warpy]

6. You might be looking for the word "deist"

They think there is probably a god somewhere but that god doesn't interfere in the petty matters of a bunch of hairless apes on a small planet circling a so-so star in a medium sized galaxy on the fringe of a supercluster.

The founders were mostly deists.

[Goblinmonger]

8. Time for this graphic (again)

[pokerfan]

9. more wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic_theism

[AtheistCrusader]

10. There are tons of them.

Believing that a all-powerful creator created the universe and us, and that creator is somehow beyond our perception or capacity to know, doesn't seem like a terrible stretch.

These are the theists I tend to co-exist with best.