What's agnostic and daoist?

[Phil]

Man you people are using WAYYYY to big or words for me today...

[Luke]

Jerry can explain Daoism. Agnosticism is not being sure whether or not there is a God.

[Phil]

ahhhaaaaaaahahahaha not being sure? geeze couldn't they have just said "I am unsure of my religion" instead of making up some complicated word to sound intelligent...

[Luke]

Agnosticism is a religion.

We like making up complicated words for things. It makes us feel superior because we know all the terms and you don't. :D

[JerryLove]

Some vocabulary

gnostic: Late Latin gnosticus, from Greek gnOstikos of knowledge
theist: belief in the existence of a god or gods; specifically : belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of man and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world
a: Latin & Greek; Latin, from Greek -- more at UN-
: not : without

So, putting these together we get
agnostic: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob. unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god
atheist one without belief in the existence of God

Now for some Chinese

Dao: Path or paved road; "way".

A Daoist is one who follows the "way" (interestingly enough, first century Christians were called "floowers of the way"). The tennets of the belief are set down with (though not originated) by a 5th century C.E. scholare called "Lau Tzu" in his book the "Dao De Ching" (The path and the way).

[Karen M]

Hello all :)

Actually, I'm more of Atheistic Agnostic: I lack a belief in a God(atheism), but I also believe science can never prove or disprove him(agnosticism). :)

Also, athiesim and agnosticism are not, in themselves, religions. They can be parts of several metaphysical systems, but not complete worldviews. For example, a Humanist could be a complete worldview(which also holds atheism to be true as PART of the view).

[Phil]

so jerry, what is "the way" to you?

[guitarman]

Karen, have you ever read any of Aristotle's stuff?

Aaron

[Karen M]

Greetings guitarman :)

Some, but not in multitude, why? :)

[guitarman]

Well, you said that the existence of God can't be proved. Aristotle was a pagan, and yet proved the existence of a single god that he called the "unmoved mover". Have you ever heard of that idea?

Aaron

[Karen M]

No, I havn't. :) What is it?

[Karen M]

Actually, I think I might have heard this before...

If this is the thing about everything needs a cause and what caused the first cause again I have heard it before.

The problem with this is that I'm not argueing about whether or not there had to be first cause. I'm arguing that I doubt that first cause was caused by an intelligent, self-aware, omnicent, omnipotent being... ;)

[guitarman]

The problem with this is that I'm not argueing about whether or not there had to be first cause. I'm arguing that I doubt that first cause was caused by an intelligent, self-aware, omnicent, omnipotent being...
Ummm, yeah, that's the idea. I don't understand it totally (I'm reading Aquinas now and he draws from Aristotle). Anyhow, he deals with this problem and poses a solution. I'll be learning about it in class one of these days. As soon as I figure out the solution, I'll give it to ya (unless, of course, someone knows it).

Aaron

[Travis]

Originally posted by Karen M
If this is the thing about everything needs a cause and what caused the first cause again I have heard it before.\

Wasn't that Descartes?

[guitarman]

I think Descares had a similar idea, but it's not the same one. Even if he did, Aristotle was quite a while before him (I think).

Aaron

[Chrysostom]

Originally posted by JerryLove
Now for some Chinese

Dao: Path or paved road; "way".

A Daoist is one who follows the "way" (interestingly enough, first century Christians were called "floowers of the way"). The tennets of the belief are set down with (though not originated) by a 5th century C.E. scholare called "Lau Tzu" in his book the "Dao De Ching" (The path and the way).i have been told something about Daoism and "holding true to one's nature." Can you tell me a little more?

[Phil]

Originally posted by fillup07
so jerry, what is "the way" to you? are you not going to answer me?

[MrCrabby]

Well, you said that the existence of God can't be proved. Aristotle was a pagan, and yet proved the existence of a single god that he called the "unmoved mover". Have you ever heard of that idea?
Well, i guess no one ever read my post on the theological arguments for the existence of God.
This was one of them.

[JerryLove]

WHile I appriaiate the interest, I don't feel I have the patitnce for as indepth a discussion as the two questions will make this. I can recommend some good resources that I agree with, but I find the question both large and subtle, and therefore extremely difficult to express.