What is the difference between an atheist, an agnostic and a “none”?

What does “atheist” mean?

You might think a dictionary would settle this. It doesn’t, quite. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a respected free reference written by experts, says the word has more than one meaning.

In the broad sense, an atheist is anyone who is not a theist, meaning anyone who lacks the belief that God exists. On that view, a person who has simply never been convinced counts as an atheist. In the narrow sense, which the encyclopedia calls standard in philosophy, atheism is the claim that God does not exist. On that view, it is not enough to be unsure. An atheist must say no.

The two senses explain a lot of arguments. Someone who says “I just don’t believe in God” and someone who says “I’m sure there is no God” may both call themselves atheists. Philosophers would describe them differently. Neither one is being dishonest. They are using the word in different ways.

Atheists are not all alike in attitude, either. The encyclopedia notes that some atheist philosophers think thoughtful believers can be justified in believing in God, while others find the whole idea of God offensive. Being an atheist says what you think about God. It does not say how you treat people who disagree.

What does “agnostic” mean, and where did the word come from?

The word has a birthday. Britannica reports that Huxley, a British biologist and a defender of Darwin’s theory of evolution, first used it publicly in 1869 at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in London. That club brought together people of many religious and philosophical views. Huxley later wrote, in an 1889 essay, that most of the members had a label and he did not. So he invented one.

He built it as the opposite of the ancient “gnostics,” who, in his words, claimed to know a great deal about things he felt ignorant of. Britannica traces the word to the Greek agnōstos, meaning “unknowable.” For Huxley, agnosticism was not a set of beliefs. He called it “not a creed, but a method”: do not claim to be sure of something you cannot show.

Today, the encyclopedia explains, “agnostic” usually means a person who has thought about whether God exists and believes neither yes nor no. Philosophers also use a stricter sense: the view that nobody knows whether God exists. In the broad sense of “atheist,” a person can be both an atheist and an agnostic, not believing in God while also saying the question can’t be settled. The encyclopedia notes that some atheists proudly call themselves “agnostic atheists.”

The strongest objection: some critics say agnosticism is fence-sitting, a way to avoid taking a stand. People made this charge against Huxley too, and his essay pushes back on what he called “feeble talk” about the “cowardice of agnosticism.” A fairer way to see it is that an agnostic has taken a stand, but on a different question. The atheist and the believer answer “Is there a God?” The agnostic answers “Can we know?” Those are separate questions, and a thoughtful person can land anywhere on each.

Who are the “nones,” and what do they believe?

“None” is a survey word, not a belief. Pew asks, “What is your present religion, if any?” People who choose atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” are grouped as religiously unaffiliated, or nones. Scholars have used the term since at least the 1960s. Pew notes that in 1968, the sociologist Glenn M. Vernon worried the word defines people by what they are not.

The group is big. Pew’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study surveyed 36,908 U.S. adults between July 17, 2023, and March 4, 2024. It found that 29% were nones and 62% were Christians. Pew says the rise of the nones, after decades of fast growth, has leveled off, at least for now.

Here is what people most often get wrong: most nones are not atheists. In a 2023 Pew survey, 17% of nones called themselves atheists, 20% agnostics and 63% “nothing in particular.” Seven in ten nones said they believe in God or some other higher power, including 13% who believe in God as described in the Bible. About three in ten said they don’t believe in any higher power. Even among atheists, 22% said they believe in some higher power or spiritual force, though not the God of the Bible.

Many nones also pray. In that 2023 survey, 13% of nones said they pray every day, and another 16% weekly or monthly. At the same time, 90% said they seldom or never go to religious services. So many nones have left religious groups without leaving belief behind.

Another common mistake is to assume nones are hostile to religion. Pew found that 43% of nones say religion does more harm than good, 14% say more good than harm, and 41% say it does about equal amounts of each. When asked why they are not religious, about two-thirds said they question a lot of religious teachings or don’t believe in God. Nearly half, 47%, said an extremely or very important reason was that they dislike religious organizations.

Where do humanists and the “spiritual but not religious” fit?

A humanist is someone who builds a life and a moral code around human reason and care for others, without relying on God. The Amsterdam Declaration 2022, the defining statement of Humanists International, says morality is grounded in the ability of living things to suffer and flourish and needs “no source outside of humanity.” It also says humanists seek to cooperate with people of different beliefs who share their values. The American Humanist Association calls humanism a non-theistic belief system, meaning one without a god, and says it does not seek to oppose or end organized religion. Many humanists are atheists or agnostics, but the words answer different questions. Atheism is about God. Humanism is about how to live.

“Spiritual but not religious” is another common self-description. In Pew’s 2023-24 study, 21% of U.S. adults said they are spiritual but not religious, and 53% said they are both. Among nones, 37% described themselves as spiritual but not religious, while 48% said they are neither. Most spiritual nones say being open-minded and connected with nature are key parts of what spirituality means to them.

Where can people of faith and skeptics agree?

First, on the facts. Believers and nonbelievers can agree that the nones are a varied group, that many of them believe in something, and that labels are chosen, not assigned. Surveys measure how people describe themselves.

Second, on being good. Pew found that most nones, and most religiously affiliated Americans too, say it is possible to be moral without believing in God. When deciding right from wrong, 83% of nones said the wish to avoid hurting other people is extremely or very important. Many people of faith would say the same thing about their own choices. Our story Can You Be Good Without God? looks at that question in depth.

Third, on the big question itself. Whether God exists is not something a survey can answer, and people of every label have thought hard about it. A believer, an atheist and an agnostic can respect each other’s honesty without agreeing. That is the spirit of this whole library, and of our story Science and Faith: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?

How can you check this yourself?

• Open Pew’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study executive summary and find the 29%, 5%, 6% and 19% figures near the top.
• Read Pew’s 2024 report “Religious ‘Nones’ in America” and its chapter “Are all religiously unaffiliated adults in the US nonbelievers?” for the belief and prayer numbers.
• Read the first two sections of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry “Atheism and Agnosticism.” They explain the different meanings of each word.
• Read Huxley’s 1889 essay “Agnosticism,” free online, for his own story of how he made up the word.
• Notice which survey a number comes from. Pew’s big 2023-24 study found 29% nones, while its January 2024 report on the nones put the share at about 28%. Both are honest numbers from different surveys.