Why do dictionaries disagree on the definition of Atheism?

Question

BQ: Which dictionary has your preferred definition?

My preferred dictionary definition is dictionary.com

noun
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Do you see where it says "doctrine OR belief"? This means it is possible to be Atheist and believe God is real. If someone tells you they are Atheists, they are one. This person may be lying or not. They could tell you "I believe in God but I am an Atheist" and according to the dictionary they would be correct.

Thanks for your time and God bless.

Answer 1

Ephesians. 2:12





◄ 112. atheos ►

Strong's Concordance

atheos: godless, ungodly

Original Word: ἄθεος, ον

Part of Speech: Adjective

Transliteration: atheos

Phonetic Spelling: (ath'-eh-os)

Short Definition: godless

Definition: without god, without (the only true) God, godless



Further



Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 112: ἄθεος



ἄθεος, (Θεός) (from Pindar down], without God, knowing and worshipping no God, in which sense Aelian v. h. 2, 31 declares ὅτι μηδείς τῶν βαρβάρων ἄθεος; in classic authors generally slighting the gods, impious, repudiating the gods recognized by the state, in which sense certain Greek philosophers, the Jews (Josephus, contra Apion 2, 14, 4), and subsequently Christians were called ἄθεοι by the heathen (Justin, Apology 1, 13, etc.). In Ephesians 2:12 of one who neither knows nor worships the true God; so of the heathen (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:5; Galatians 4:8); Clement, οἱ τόν ὄντως ὄντα ... Alex. protr, 2:23, p. 19 Pott. ἀθεους Θεόν ἠγνοήκλασι, Philo, leg. ad Gai. § 25 αἰγυπτιακὴ ἀθεότης, Hosea 4:15 Symm. οἶκος ἀθεΐας, a house in which idols are worshipped, Ignatius ad Trall. 10 [ET] ἄθεοι τοῦτ᾿ἔστιν ἄπιστοι (of the Docetae); (others understand Ephesians, the passage cited passively deserted of God, Vulg.sine Deo; on the various meanings of the word see Meyer (or Ellicott)



By God's standards we were all atheists, without god, rejected but God due to sin. Mercy prevailed.

Answer 2

According to The Word of God (The Tree of Life, Light, Love, Wisdom, Understanding and Knowledge) an atheist is this: Fool: a person devoid of the Light, which is God/Jesus/Holy Ghost.



A stupid person or a senseless act. In the Bible, the most foolish person of all is one who denies the reality of God the Father: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God' " (Ps 14:1; 53:1).



Prov 14:9



9 Fools make a mock at sin

KJV



Prov 10:23



23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

KJV



Prov 17:21



21 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

KJV



1 Cor 6:9-10

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,



10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

KJV



Prov 10:23



23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief:

KJV



Prov 17:21



21 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

KJV



Prov 19:1

Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

KJV



Prov 23:9



9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

KJV



Prov 26:11



11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

KJV



Eccl 10:3



3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool (atheist).

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Answer 3

I do not believe many dictionaries disagree on the definitions of atheism. Most correct give the two common senses in which the word is used. One is the belief that there is no god or gods. This is sometimes called "strong atheism." The other is not have a belief in any god or gods.The word is used in two different senses, and dictionaries usually report that.



However, there is nothing in this to support your claim that a person could both believe in a god or gods and be an atheist. That contradicts both senses of the word.

Answer 4

Because there are several different definitions for any words because their are many variations of the English language. You have English English which is different to Scottish and Welsh and Irish English bit these for are often called British English and this is different to American, Canadian, Australian, African and New Zealand English which all have their own sub catagories and that's just the native English speaking world nog including the millions of second language English speakers.



As for atheism it's usually means the lack of a belief in a god. For example Buddhists are and Atheist religion as their is no god in Buddhism.



Similarly the Romans recorded the Huns as being Atheist because they has no religious shrines and no statues of deities. This doesn't mean they were irreligious (lacking a religion) it just means they may not of had a god. That being said to call someone godless was a major insult in the roman empire and the Huns were a hated enemy.

Answer 5

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/atheism



https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/atheism

Answer 6

Atheists: anyone who does not believe in the existence of any deities.



Religious atheist: anyone who believes and worships a deity, but does not believe in the existence of the rest.





Christians are religious atheists.

Answer 7

I use the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy definition: "The position that affirms the non-existence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief." The reason they disagree is probably because the dictionary definitions of words are derived from surveys of current usage, and this can vary according to culture and the details of the sample used. You could also expect there to be more and less technical versions and different degrees and kinds of bias. If I used a dictionary of theology, it might have a different definition, for example.



For me the most important aspect of the definition of atheism is that it is the positive belief that there is no God, and it's vital that it isn't defined as lack of belief in God because that's epistemologically sloppy. However, I'm more committed to philosophy than to theology.

Answer 8

It is because dictionaries can be as inconsistent as bibles.

Answer 9

Dictionaries are descriptive guides. They are not being authoritative and telling you this is how words are defined and spelled, they are just telling you how people use and spell words. This changes over time, why words change definitions and spellings, words get taken out of the dictionary, and new one put into them. Words do not have permanent intrinsic meanings.



The way it works is they read articles and maybe watch tv, and if they see a new word they try and figure out how it's being used. If they see the word enough in print they enter the word in the dictionary as it's definition seems to be and how it's spelled. If enough people using it differently then they change the dictionary definition. They are only describing to you how the word is used, not making an executive, permanent decision. You have that in French because there is an academy that over looks the language, and actually decides how the words are used, spelled, and defined, plus grammar. This does not exist in English.



Here, watch this 2 minute video on the process.

Answer 10

Dictionaries describe how people use words. Since people use words in different ways, there will be different definitions (even within the same dictionary).



"BQ: Which dictionary has your preferred definition?"

I am not too bothered. What is important is that I use the same definition as the person I am talking to. I tend to use the definition, "disbelief in gods".



"Do you see where it says "doctrine OR belief"? This means it is possible to be Atheist and believe God is real."

No, it does not, because it is followed by "that there is no God". One cannot have a doctrine that there is no God and still believe in God, unless you are using some very strange definition of the word doctrine.

Answer 11

It says, "...doctrine or belief that there is no God".

The key words you seem to fail to understand are , "there is no".

Answer 12

You have it wrong. There are indeed atheistic religions in fact many Eastern religions have no God. So it's perfectly possible to have a religious doctrine and be an atheist.

Answer 13

Because even atheists have no idea what they are. Whatever is hip and trendy at the moment is the bullshit they will spew.

Answer 14

It depends on what the definition of "is" is !!!

Answer 15

I do not know how you managed to get that amazingly stupid interpretation of the definition.Let's parse it properly.



The definition says:

1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.



Now, lets put brackets to isolate the context so you know how to properly interpret the text:



1. the (doctrine or belief) that there is no God.



Now, if you improperly bracket things, you could end up with:



1. the (doctrine) or (belief that there is no God. )



In which case you have an unspecified doctrine or a lack of belief in a god. Which makes no frigging sense as far as definition goes.



So, the proper meaning of the definition is indeed:



1. the (doctrine or belief) that there is no God.



So, you can pick between a "doctrine" (defined as "a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.") or a "belief" (which can be a subset of a doctrine, or a conviction that is not considered held of taught by a group; i.e. independently reached); but in all cases the "there is no god" REMAINS.



I am not really sure what you are trying to achieve here; displaying the amazingly low number of brain cells you have active, or just trolling.

Either way, you fail.

Answer 16

Why so uneducated and why make totally false assumptions and try to change the meaning given in your dictionary!



Whilst there are many attempts by lexicographers to give definitions the simple fact is the word atheist was defined by the Christian to church and simply means "ATHEIST - someone who does not believe in a God – any God – not just the Christian one".



But that does not mean they do not hold strong moral or religious beliefs! They can follow any religion that does not have a god and there are a lot of those!



So why are you so confused about atheists when the world is confused as to why Christians like you post as you do and seem to have abandoned any idea of a loving god to practice your intolerance, hatred, bigotry and persecution towards others that not only drive people further away from God but are the reason so many DECENT people are becoming ANTI THEISTS!

Answer 17

Out of respect for atheists, I accept their own description of atheism: https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/about-atheism/



Even most Antitheists will tell us that atheism is a LACK of beliefs and call themselves atheists, but then give Arguments from Assertion of their beliefs that God doesn't exist, the Bible is a collection of fairy tales, and religious people are inferior: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism

Answer 18

I am baffled why so many believers make an issue of this. Instead of wasting your time with this, why don't use use that time to come up with some evidence of god's existence? Surely that would be more constructive and satisfying for you.

Answer 19

Why do Christian denominations all call each other false?

Is this a difference in defining what a REAL Christian is?

How do u feel knowing that 99% of ur brothers of the cloth disagree with everything u personally believe?



Also, did u know that atheists don't believe in gods like u claim we do? See, atheism isn't the belief in a god, it's the lack of a belief in a god. A lack of a belief in one means we do not believe in one. Not believing in one directly contradicts ur concept that we can believe in one..



Either u r wrong, or every atheist on earth, myself included, is incapable of any form of honesty about what we do/DONT believe. U have issues accepting the concept that any human being can not believe in a god or gods. This is ur issue though, not ours. We r entitled to believe (or in our case NOT BELIEVE) anything we like, or don't like.



Lying about us for ur baby Jesus is still lying. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and u paved it thoroughly.

Answer 20

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/atheist?a=british



Webster's 1828 Dictionary

http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/atheism

Answer 21

It isn't just dictionaries. Many atheists disagree as to what they really are. Some say that atheism is a non belief in any god, others say that atheists believe there is a god, but that god is not real. Like Harry Potter. He exists, because you can see him in books and films, but he's not real.

Answer 22

Dictionaries disagree on many definitions.

Answer 23

The religion of Atheism believes that no god can assist anywhere.

Atheists also live without ever feeling any real LOVE! Because LOVE only comes from and with the Real GOD!

Answer 24

Dictionaries list words as people use them, and people use words differently over time and area.

Answer 25

What ever your dictionary wants to say, still no god.

Answer 26

Webster's Dictionary 1828





Atheism



A'THEISM, noun The disbelief of the existence of a God, or Supreme intelligent Being.



Atheism is a ferocious system that leaves nothing above us to excite awe, nor around us, to awaken tenderness.

Answer 27

Using different words does not mean a different definition !

Answer 28

You can't believe that God is real and follow a doctrine or belief that he isn't.



There is no disagreement between dictionaries on the definition of atheism.

Answer 29

"Do you see where it says "doctrine OR belief"? This means it is possible to be Atheist and believe God is real."



No, that is NOT what that means.