Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily

anti-religious Antireligion is opposition to religion. It involves opposition to organized religion, religious practices or religious institutions. The term ''antireligion'' has also been used to describe opposition to specific forms of supernatural worship ...

but skeptical of specific or all religious beliefs and/or practices. Socrates was one of the most prominent and first religious skeptics of whom there are records; he questioned the legitimacy of the beliefs of his time in the existence of the Greek gods. Religious skepticism is not the same as

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

, and some religious skeptics are deists (or theists who reject the prevailing

organized religion Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. Organized religion is typically characterized by an official doctrine (or dogma), a ...

they encounter, or even all organized religion).

Overview

The word skeptic (sometimes ''sceptic'') is derived from the middle

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

''sceptique'' or the Latin ''scepticus'', literally "sect of the sceptics". Its origin is in the Greek word ''skeptikos'', meaning inquiring, which was used to refer to members of the Hellenistic philosophical school of

Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of E ...

, which doubted the possibility of knowledge. As such, religious skepticism generally refers to doubting or questioning something about religion. Although, as noted by Schellenberg the term is sometimes more generally applied to anyone that has a negative view of religion. The majority of skeptics are agnostics and atheists, but there are also a number of religious people that are skeptical of religion. The religious are generally skeptical about claims of other religions, at least when the two denominations conflict concerning some stated belief. Some philosophers put forth the sheer diversity of religion as a justification for skepticism by theists and non-theists alike. Theists are also generally skeptical of the claims put forth by atheists. Michael Shermer wrote that religious skepticism is a process for discovering the truth rather than general non-acceptance. For this reason a religious skeptic might believe that Jesus existed while questioning claims that he was the messiah or performed miracles (see historicity of Jesus). Thomas Jefferson's '' The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'', a literal cut and paste of the New Testament that removes anything

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

, is a prominent example.

History

Ancient history

Ancient Greece was a polytheistic society in which the gods were not omnipotent and required sacrifice and ritual. The earliest beginnings of religious skepticism can be traced back to Xenophanes. He critiqued popular religion of his time, particularly false conceptions of the divine that are a byproduct of the human propensity to anthropomorphize deities. He took the scripture of his time to task for painting the gods in a negative light and promoted a more rational view of religion. He was very critical of religious people privileging their belief system over others without sound reason. Socrates' conception of the divine was that the gods were always benevolent, truthful, authoritative, and wise. Divinity was to operate within the standards of rationality. This critique of established religion ultimately resulted in his trial for impiety and corruption as documented in The Apology. The historian Will Durant writes that Plato was "as skeptical of atheism as of any other dogma." Democritus was the father of

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

in the West, and there is no trace of a belief in any afterlife in his work. Specifically, in ''Those in Hades'' he refers to constituents of the soul as atoms that dissolve upon death. This later inspired the philosopher

Epicurus Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...

and the philosophy he founded, who held a materialist view and rejected any afterlife, while further claiming the gods were also uninterested in human affairs.Epicurus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
/ref> In the poem ''

De rerum natura ''De rerum natura'' (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius ( – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7 ...

'' Lucretius proclaimed Epicurean philosophy, that the universe operates according to physical principles and guided by ''fortuna'', or chance, instead of the Roman gods. In '' De Natura Deorum'' the Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero presented arguments against the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that th ...

calling into question the character of the gods, whether or not they participate in earthly affairs, and questions their existence. In ancient India, there was a materialist philosophical school called the

Cārvāka Charvaka ( sa, चार्वाक; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian materialism. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embrace ...

, who were known as being skeptical of the religious claims of Vedic religion, its rituals and texts. A forerunner to the Charvaka school, philosopher Ajita Kesakambali, did not believe in reincarnation.

Early modern history

Thomas Hobbes took positions that strongly disagreed with orthodox Christian teachings. He argued repeatedly that there are no incorporeal substances, and that all things, even God,

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

, and

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

are corporeal, matter in motion. He argued that "though Scripture acknowledge spirits, yet doth it nowhere say, that they are incorporeal, meaning thereby without dimensions and quantity". Voltaire, although himself a deist, was a forceful critic of religion and advocated for acceptance of all religions as well as separation of church and state. In Japan,

Yamagata Bantō was a well-known resident of Osaka who was both a scholar and a merchant. He was the able head clerk of the money exchange merchant Masuya. He studied Confucianism from Nakai Chikuzan and his brother Nakai Riken, and astronomy from Asada Goryu at ...

(d.1821) declared that "in this world there are no gods, Buddhas, or ghosts, nor are there strange or miraculous things".

Modern religious skepticism

The term has morphed into one that typically emphasizes scientific and historical methods of evidence. There are some skeptics that question whether religion is a viable topic for criticism given that it doesn't require proof for belief. Others, however, insist it is as much as any other knowledge, especially when it makes claims that contradict those made by science. There has been much work since the late 20th century by philosophers such as Schellenburg and Moser, and both have written numerous books pertaining to the topic. Much of their work has focused on defining what religion is and specifically what people are skeptical of about it. The work of others have argued for the viability of religious skepticism by appeal to higher-order evidence (evidence about our evidence and our capacities for evaluation), what some call meta-evidence. There are still echoes of early Greek skepticism in the way some current thinkers question the intellectual viability of belief in the divine. In modern times there is a certain amount of mistrust and lack of acceptance of religious skeptics, particularly towards those that are also atheists. This is coupled with concerns many skeptics have about the government in countries, such as the US, where separation of church and state are central tenets.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Religious Skepticism Philosophy of religion Skepticism *