# What is agnosticism?

> Agnosticism is about what a person claims to know. Huxley coined the word. It covers weak and strong forms, and both agnostic theists and agnostic atheists.

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- Updated: 2026-10-09
- Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul))


Agnosticism is the claim that a person does not know whether God exists, or that this cannot be known. It is not a softer atheism. What agnostics hold in common is that limit on knowledge. This page is that account, including the types. A separate page for “what agnostics believe” would repeat it.

## Key points

- [T. H. Huxley](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_34/April_1889/Agnosticism) says he invented the title “agnostic” as the opposite of the “gnostic” of church history, who professed to know.
- The [1911 Encyclopædia Britannica](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Agnosticism) dates that invention to 1869 and says the attitude is that there is no evidence which entitles us either to deny or to affirm what lies behind phenomena.
- The [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/) describes a psychological agnostic as someone who believes neither that “there is a God” is true nor that it is false, and an epistemological agnosticism on which neither theism nor atheism is known.
- [Atheist Alliance International](https://atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism/) says an agnostic atheist lacks belief and does not claim to know that no gods exist, and that an agnostic theist believes in God and does not claim to know that God exists.
- [American Atheists](https://atheists.org/what-is-an-atheist/) say agnosticism “answers a different question” from atheism: knowledge, not belief.
- Christians say God has shown what may be known of him through what has been made, [Romans 1:19–20](/bible/romans/1), and that Jesus is the way to the Father, [John 14:6](/bible/john/14/6).

## Huxley’s word

Huxley’s essay “Agnosticism,” reprinted in [Popular Science Monthly, April 1889](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_34/April_1889/Agnosticism):

> So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of "agnostic." It came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the "gnostic" of Church history, who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant; and I took the earliest opportunity of parading it at our society, to show that I, too, had a tail, like the other foxes.

The essay gives his account of the invention. It does not print the year 1869. The [1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Agnosticism](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Agnosticism) (Hugh Chisholm) supplies that date:

> The term “agnostic” was invented by Huxley in 1869 to describe the philosophical and religious attitude of those who hold that we can have scientific or real knowledge of phenomena only, and that so far as what may lie behind phenomena is concerned—God, immortality, &c.—there is no evidence which entitles us either to deny or affirm anything.

Huxley’s own contrast is with the gnostic of church history. The Britannica records another etymology, from “Unknown God,” as a variant. This page follows Huxley’s paragraph for the meaning of the word he coined.

In the same 1889 essay he says what the word was for:

> Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle.

> Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable.

That is a rule about claiming certainty. It is not, in these sentences, a list of other doctrines agnostics must share.

## Weak, strong, and the two combinations

The [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Atheism and Agnosticism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/) separates a psychological use from an epistemological one. A psychological agnostic is “a person who has entertained the proposition that there is a God but believes neither that it is true nor that it is false.” Epistemological agnosticism says that neither theism nor atheism is known, or has positive epistemic status. The entry also notes that some atheists proudly call themselves “agnostic atheists.”

People use “weak” and “strong” for a similar split. Weak agnosticism is the personal claim “I do not know.” Strong agnosticism is the further claim that no one can know, or that the question cannot be settled. The encyclopedia’s psychological and epistemological pair is the careful form of that distinction. This page does not treat those adjectives as a second creed.

[Atheist Alliance International, What is atheism?](https://atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism/) puts belief and knowledge on different axes:

> Theism and atheism tell us about a person’s belief in gods. Agnosticism and Gnosticism tell us what a person claims to know, not what they believe.

> An agnostic atheist does not believe in any gods but does not claim to know that no gods exist.

> It is possible to be an agnostic theist—a person who believes in God but does not claim to know God exists.

> Interestingly, most atheists are agnostic atheists.

### American Atheists on the two questions

[American Atheists, What is an atheist?](https://atheists.org/what-is-an-atheist/) say the same split:

> “Agnostic” isn’t a “weaker” version of being an atheist. It answers a different question. Atheism is about what you believe. Agnosticism is about what you know.

An agnostic theist believes. An agnostic atheist does not. Both withhold a knowledge claim. That overlap is why “what agnostics believe” is not one list of tenets. The shared piece is the limit on knowledge. Everything else divides.

## The Christian claim

Christians say God can be known, not because a person has finished every argument, but because God has shown himself.

[Romans 1:19–20](/bible/romans/1), King James Version:

> Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

[John 14:6](/bible/john/14/6), King James Version:

> Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus is God, and he says he is the way to the Father. The general question of existence is [Does God exist?](/god/does-god-exist). The difference from atheism is [What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic?](/agnosticism/atheist-vs-agnostic).

## Frequently asked questions

### Did Huxley invent the word agnostic?

He says he did. The 1889 essay tells that story and sets the word against the gnostic of church history. The 1911 Britannica dates the invention to 1869. The essay itself does not print that year.

### Can someone be an agnostic and still believe in God?

Yes. Atheist Alliance International calls that person an agnostic theist: someone who believes in God and does not claim to know that God exists.

### Can someone be an agnostic and an atheist?

Yes. An agnostic atheist lacks belief in gods and does not claim to know that no gods exist. American Atheists say the two words answer different questions.

### What do Christians say can be known?

[Romans 1:19–20](/bible/romans/1) says what may be known of God is manifest in what has been made. [John 14:6](/bible/john/14/6) says Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

## Keep reading

- [What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic?](/agnosticism/atheist-vs-agnostic)
- [What do atheists believe?](/atheism/what-do-atheists-believe)
- [Does God exist?](/god/does-god-exist)
- [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity)

## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.

1. [T. H. Huxley, Agnosticism, Popular Science Monthly, April 1889](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_34/April_1889/Agnosticism)
2. [Hugh Chisholm, Agnosticism, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Agnosticism)
3. [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Atheism and Agnosticism, Agnosticism](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/)
4. [Atheist Alliance International, What is atheism?, Agnosticism](https://atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism/)
5. [American Atheists, What is an atheist?, Agnosticism](https://atheists.org/what-is-an-atheist/)
6. [Letter to the Romans, 1:19–20](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/romans/1). King James Version
7. [Gospel of John, 14:6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/14/6). King James Version

## See also
- [What is the difference between an atheist and an agnostic?](https://apologetics.wiki/agnosticism/atheist-vs-agnostic) — Atheism is about belief. Agnosticism is about knowledge. A person can be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist. Christians say God has made himself known.
- [The Trinity](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/the-trinity) — Christians confess that the one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: not three gods, and not one person taking turns.
- [Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god) — Is Allah the same God? Muslims and Christians both confess one Creator, the God of Abraham. They do not confess the same account of who that God is: Christians say Jesus is God, and the Qur'an denies it.
- [Does God exist?](https://apologetics.wiki/god/does-god-exist) — Christians say everything that exists depends on God, who is not one more object inside the world, and they point to what has been made and to Jesus.
- [The problem of evil](https://apologetics.wiki/god/problem-of-evil) — Scripture records the protest against suffering. Christians answer from the cross and the resurrection, and they do not itemize a reason for each horror.

## History
[View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/what-is-agnosticism.md)