What is "ignosticism"? →
Ignosticism, or igtheism, is the theological position that every other theological position (including agnosticism) assumes too much about the concept of God and many other theological concepts. The word “ignosticism” was coined by Sherwin Wine, a rabbi and a founding figure in Humanistic Judaism.
It can be defined as encompassing two related views about the existence of God:
- The view that a coherent definition of God must be presented before the question of the existence of god can be meaningfully discussed. Furthermore, if that definition is unfalsifiable, the ignostic takes the theological noncognitivist position that the question of the existence of God (per that definition) is meaningless. In this case, the concept of God is not considered meaningless; the term “God” is considered meaningless.
- The second view is synonymous with theological noncognitivism, and skips the step of first asking “What is meant by ‘God’?” before proclaiming the original question “Does God exist?” as meaningless.
Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism, while others have considered it to be distinct. An ignostic maintains that they cannot even say whether he/she is a theist or an atheist until a sufficient definition of theism is put forth.
(via drinkthe-koolaid)
- Where has God gone?” - “I shall tell you. We have killed him. You and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon?
What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left?
Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing?
Do we not feel the breath of empty space?
Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God’s decomposition? Gods too decompose.
God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.
How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves?
That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives.
Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent?
Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it?
There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto.
Friederich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (The Gay Science)
via diegodelavega
Nietzsche
Nietzsche grounds religion in the human needs of the insecure person.
Nietzsche (Thus Spake Zarathustra)
For Nietzsche, religion emerged in order to bring comfort and consolation to weak people lacking courage to create their own values.
