Definition of Atheism in Non-Religious Reference Works:
Encyclopedia of Unbelief, edited by Gordon Stein.
- If theism is the belief in the existence of God, then a-theism ought to mean "not theism" or "without theism." Actually, there is no notion of "denial" in the origin of the word, and the atheist who denies the existence of God is by far the rarest type of atheist — if he exists at all. Rather, the word atheism means to an atheist "lack of belief in the existence of a God or gods." An atheist is one who does not have a belief in God, or who is without a belief in God. The importance of these distinctions is that one cannot understand what one cannot define accurately. An atheist cannot deny the existence of that which he finds to be without meaning, namely the term God. In order to deny the existence of something, one must know what the term one is denying means.
The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, Allan G. Johnson.
- Theistic Religion: Theistic religion is based upon a shared cultural belief in the existence of gods, goddesses or other supreme beings. Monotheism, as found in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, recognizes a single deity, while polytheism, as found in Hinduism, includes two or more deities, often arranged in a hierarchy. In pantheism, the deity is regarded not as separate from the world but as the universe itself, with humans and the world being but manifestations of it.
The Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, edited by Edwin R. A. Seligman.
- In its narrowest sense the term atheist applies to one who categorically denies the existence of any gods. But in its wider sense it properly applies also to skeptics, materialists, positivists and all other who do not accept the claims of theism — that the world was created or is governed by a person or persons having the human traits of intelligence and will in more or less magnified form. Moreover, as people generally do not discriminate between belief and conduct, the term atheist has also been applied to those who refuse to participate in the customary forms of public worship. Thus the Romans called the Jews and early Christians atheists because they did not pay the customary honors to the sacra of the established imperial cult.
This definition, which is only reproduced in part, offers both the narrow and broad understandings of the concepts of atheism; moreover, both are specifically marked as being broader or narrower. Although the broader definition is only applied to a specifically defined god, that god is conceived of rather broadly. Nevertheless, it still leaves the erroneous impression that a pantheist who considers the universe an impersonal god is also an atheist. There might be few practical differences between such a pantheist and an atheist, but there is a difference worth noting.
