Agnosticism
/æɡˈnɒs.tɪ.sɪ.zəm/noun
The view that the existence of God or the divine is unknown or unknowable.
Did you know?Agnosticism was coined in 1869 by Thomas H. Huxley, who borrowed the Greek root from religious language to describe a disciplined refusal to claim knowledge where none could be proven.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
agnōstos
“unknown, not known”
Ancient Greek
Greek
agnōstikos
“one who does not know or is not acquainted with”
1869
English
agnostic
“a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief because the truth is unknown”
Late 19th Century
English
agnosticism
“the doctrine or principle that the existence of God or ultimate reality is unknown or unknowable”
Modern English
English
agnosticism
“the view that certain questions, especially about the divine, cannot be known with certainty”