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Talk:Essay:Surprising Dates of Origin for Terms (view source)
Revision as of 18:13, June 14, 2009
, 18:13, June 14, 2009answer to STam
Maybe the reason the term "atheism" was only popularized after theism is because atheism literally means "without theism"? This shouldn't be construed to mean that atheists didn't exist before the 1800s-- after all, there were even atheists in Ancient Greece, like Epicurus, famous for his "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" observation. [[User:STam|STam]] 13:59, 14 June 2009 (EDT)
Maybe the reason the term "atheism" was only popularized after theism is because atheism literally means "without theism"? This shouldn't be construed to mean that atheists didn't exist before the 1800s-- after all, there were even atheists in Ancient Greece, like Epicurus, famous for his "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" observation. [[User:STam|STam]] 13:59, 14 June 2009 (EDT)
I think Epicurus was more of a deist or agnostic than an atheist. He did admit that gods might exist but they had no influence on the world. However, I would guess there were atheists before the 1800s if the word first appeared in 1587. --[[User:OscarJ|OscarJ]] 14:13, 14 June 2009 (EDT)