Hello, all. I have not comprehensively read all of the replies above, so forgive me if I repeat something.
In my reading, I have learned that agnosticism is not mutually exclusive to a theistic stance. Specifically, a/gnosticism regards beliefs about
knowledge of an entity, and a/theism regards beliefs about the
existence of an entity. If a person believes that s/he cannot know that God exists or does not exist, yet believes that a God does in fact exist in spite of this insurmountable knowledge barrier that he believes to exist, that person is an agnostic theist. Likewise an individual that believes certain knowledge about the existence/non-existence of a god is impossible, and furthermore holds no belief that a god exists, that person is an agnostic atheist. In that sense, I think Russell did not consider the distinction between a "weak atheist" and a "strong atheist." Atheists do not necessarily assert knowledge about the non-existence of God -- most simply assert knowledge about their own absence of belief. Their absence of belief may or may not be the result of a belief that knowledge regarding a god's existence is at all attainable.
Blessings,
::
[This message has been edited by ::, 08-06-2003]
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