I am an agnostic atheist because I do not profess to know for certain that god does not exist and I leave open the possibility of some god existing and therefor, i do not believe in any gods.
I see faith as being a Gnostic Theist because she is confident she knows god does exist and believes in it. There is no doubt in her mind, as far as I can tell, about that existence. It is not up to me, an outside agent, to determine what someone else actually knows, so I can only go off what they say.
Just based on a belief that God definitely exists, however that belief is obtained, can locate you in quadrant II.
Gnosticism deals with knowledge, theism with belief. Here is a good article about it:
Atheist vs. Agnostic
In contrast, I take ringo's statement as meaning that no one can legitimately be in quadrants I or II. Does that possibility seem correct to you?
I am not sure I really follow or necessarily agree with Ringo, but I don't quite know what he is saying to have an opinion. He seems to me to be saying that he knows what other people know or don't know and is making the distinction for them. If that is the case, I do not agree. These sorts of topics, imo, are on an individual level and ought to be left up to the individual to determine.
Not that definitions are arbiters of usage, but the first definition of gnostic is:
quote:
of or relating to knowledge, especially esoteric mystical knowledge.
(one soon finds that this word is really muddied due to actual Gnosticism as a set of beliefs)
Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.