What does "atheist" currently mean? In earlier days someone who deviated from religious orthodoxy was considered one despite professing a belief in a god. Does that attitude hold today among some groups, or does one have to be a Richard Dawkins or a Stephen Hawking to qualify?
Originally, atheism referred to anyone not believing in the society's accepted god or gods. Around the fourth century, that definition changed to someone who denied the existence of any deity. link
Yes, I know that, and had read the Wiki article before posting. It does not address how various factions define it today. Do some religious "conservatives," whatever that means, maintain the archaic view? As late as the late 16th Century it was still common, as witness the French heretic Jean Cauvin's murder of the Spanish heretic Michael Servetus as an atheist in 1553.
Several of the founders of the USA were atheists according to the early definition, such as Adams (Unitarian) Franklin (Quaker) and Jefferson (Deist). Was the early definition still in use then, I wonder?
Certainly some people call people 'atheists' those who don't agree with their own belief. That's not the usually-accepted meaning, though. That is the belief in NO gods.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I think those people committed heresy, not believing in or conforming to the particular tenets of their church, rather than expressing a belief no god exists.
Interesting that you talk about atheism being used in 1553 because that Wikipedia article says, "The first individuals to identify themselves using the word "atheist" lived in the 18th century. However, from the OED:
quote:
[?1555 Coverdale tr. Hope of Faythful Pref. f. iiiv, Eate we and drink we lustely, tomorow we shal dy. which al ye Epicures protest openly, & the Italian atheoi.] 1571 A. Golding in tr. J. Calvin On Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. Ep. Ded. sig. *.iii, The Atheistes which say..there is no God.
It looks like Geoff is right, and Wikipedia is wrong.
A bit off-topic, but Kalleh's post mentioned J. Calvin. That's the English name for Jihan (or Jean) Cauvin, mentioned in my post above. Why the change? I suspect the selfsame religious types who believe in Calvinism would NEVER follow a screwball Frenchman!
I realize we have some Wikipediaphiles here (a new coinage!), and heaven knows I like it and use it. However, one does have to be careful and check the facts. It's often wrong.
I know, Geoff. It's just that it is too often not checked out (not by Wordcrafters of course). And, sometimes things aren't identified that way when they should be, such as Proof's link. On the other hand, when I reviewed that link again, it is pretty darned good (more than 223 citations). It's just important to check out facts, though I guess that's true of all sources.
