View source for Antitheism

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{{short description|Opposition to theism, and usually to religion}}
{{See also|Antireligion|Irreligion}}
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{{Irreligion sidebar|atheism}}
'''Antitheism''', also spelled '''anti-theism''', is the philosophical position that [[theism]] should be opposed.<ref name=Cline-About/><ref name=FreeDict-antitheism/> The term has had a range of applications. In [[secularism|secular]] contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any [[deity]].

==Etymology==
The word ''antitheism'' (or hyphenated ''anti-theism'') has been recorded in English since 1788.<ref name=EtymOnln-antitheism/> The [[etymology|etymological]] roots of the word are the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[wikt:ἀντί|anti]]'' and ''[[wikt:θεός#Ancient Greek|theos]].''

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines ''antitheist'' as "One opposed to belief in the existence of a god". The earliest citation given for this meaning dates from 1833.<ref name=OED-1970/><ref name=FreeDict-antitheism/> The term was likely coined by [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPYrEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22coined%22+%22anti-theism%22+%22proudhon%22&pg=PT281 | title=The Problem of Atheism | isbn=9780228009382 | last1=Noce | first1=Augusto Del | date=5 January 2022 | publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP }}</ref>

==Opposition to theism==
''Antitheism'' has been adopted as a label by those who regard [[theism]] as dangerous, destructive, or encouraging of harmful behavior. [[Christopher Hitchens]] (2001)<ref name=Hitchens-2001/> wrote:

{{blockquote | I'm not even an [[Atheism|atheist]] so much as I am an ''antitheist''; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful.<ref name=Hitchens-2001/>}}

==Opposition to the idea of God==
Other definitions of antitheism include that of the French Catholic philosopher [[Jacques Maritain]] (1953), for whom it is "an active struggle against everything that reminds us of God".<ref name=Maritain-1953/>



The ''definition'' of [[Robert Flint (theologian)|Robert Flint]] (1877), Professor of Divinity at the [[University of Edinburgh]] was similar. Flint's 1877 [[The Baird Lecture|Baird Lecture]] was titled ''Anti-Theistic Theories''.<ref name=Flint-1894/> He used ''"antitheism"'' as a very general [[umbrella term]] for all opposition to his own form of theism, which he defined as:

the "belief that the heavens and the earth and all that they contain owe their existence and continuance to the wisdom and will of a supreme, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and benevolent Being, who is distinct from, and independent of, what He has created."<ref name="Flint-1894" />{{rp|style=ama|p= 1}}

However, Flint also acknowledged that antitheism is typically understood differently from how he defines it. In particular, he notes that it has been used as a subdivision of [[atheism]], descriptive of the view that [[theism]] has been disproven, rather than as the more general term that Flint preferred. He rejected the alternative ''[[nontheism|non-theistic]]:'' not merely because of its hybrid origin and character, but also because it is far too comprehensive. The theories of physical and mental science are non-theistic, even when in no degree, directly or indirectly, antagonistic to theism.<ref name="Flint-1894" />{{rp|style=ama|p= 444–445}}
==Other, similar terms==
Opposition to the existence of a god or gods is frequently referred to as ''[[nontheism]]'', or ''[[dystheism]]'', or ''[[misotheism]]''.
* ''[[Dystheism]]'' would actually mean "belief in a deity that is ''not'' benevolent".
* ''[[Misotheism]]'', strictly speaking, means "hatred of God".

Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to the existence of a god or gods include some forms of [[LaVeyan Satanism|Atheistic Satanism]] and [[Misotheism#maltheism|maltheism]].

==Different definitions of "antitheism"==
{{see also|Misotheism#Terminology}}
[[Christopher New]] (1993)<ref name=New-1993-06/> proposed an altered definition of the word ''antitheism'' as part of a thought experiment. He imagines what arguments for the existence of an ''evil'' god would look like, and writes:<blockquote>Antitheists, like theists, would have believed in an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal creator; but whereas theists in fact believe that the supreme being is also perfectly good, antitheists would have believed that he was perfectly evil.<ref name="New-1993-06">{{cite journal |last=New |first=C. |author-link=Christopher New |date=June 1993 |title=Antitheism – a reflection |journal=Ratio |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=36–43 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9329.1993.tb00051.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Daniels |first=Charles B. |date=June 1997 |title=God, demon, good, evil |journal=The Journal of Value Inquiry |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=177–181|doi=10.1023/A:1004275010090 |s2cid=169336704 }}</ref></blockquote>New's  changed definition has reappeared in the work of W.A. Murphree.<ref name=Murphree-1997-03/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Religion
}}
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* [[Antireligion]]
* [[League of Militant Atheists]]
* [[Materialism]]
* [[Naturalism (philosophy)]]
* [[Negative and positive atheism]]
* [[New Atheism]]
* [[Post-theism]]
* [[Secular humanism]]
* [[Scientism]]
* [[State atheism]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist|25em|refs=

<ref name=Cline-About>{{cite web
 |author=Cline, Austin
 |title=''Atheism'' and ''anti-theism'': What's the difference? What is "anti-theism"?
 |website=[[About.com]]
 |url=http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismatheiststheism/a/AntiTheism.htm
 |access-date=2016-12-23
 |archive-date=2013-12-19
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219190032/http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismatheiststheism/a/AntiTheism.htm
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

<ref name=FreeDict-antitheism>
{{cite dictionary
 |title=antitheism
 |dictionary=[[The Free Dictionary]]
 |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antitheism
}}
</ref>

<ref name=EtymOnln-antitheism>
{{cite dictionary
 |title=antitheism
 |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]
 |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=antitheism&allowed_in_frame=0
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Flint-1894>
{{cite book
 |last=Flint |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Flint (theologian)
 |year=1894 |orig-year=1877
 |title=Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the [[Baird Lecture]] for 1877
 |edition=5th
 |location=London, UK
 |publisher=William Blackwood and Sons
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Hitchens-2001>
{{cite web
 | first = C.  | last = Hitchens  |author-link = Christopher Hitchens
 | year = 2001
 | title = Letters to a Young Contrarian 
 | type = Book Excerpt
 | url = http://commonwealthclub.org/archive/01/01-12hitchens-excerpt.html
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090915172725/http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/01/01-12hitchens-excerpt.html
 | archive-date = 2009-09-15
}}<br/>
''See also'' Wikipedia article ''[[Letters to a Young Contrarian]]''
</ref>

<ref name=Maritain-1953>
{{cite book |last=Maritain |first=J. |author-link=Jacques Maritain
 |year=1953
 |title=The Range of Reason
 |place=London, UK
 |publisher=Geoffrey Bles
 |url=http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407012751/http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm
 |archive-date=2013-04-07
 |page=104}}
</ref>

<ref name=Murphree-1997-03>
{{cite journal
 |last=Murphree |first=Wallace A.
 |date=March 1997
 |title=Natural theology: Theism or antitheism
 |journal=Sophia
 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=75–83
 |doi=10.1007/BF02786044
|s2cid=170924107
 }}
</ref>

<ref name=OED-1970>
{{cite dictionary
 |title=antitheism
 |dictionary=The Shorter OED
 |year=1970 |edition=reprint
 |page=78
}}
</ref>

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

== Sources ==
*{{cite web |author=Barker, Dan |year=1993 |title=Evangelistic atheism: Leading believers astray |website=Freethought Today |url=http://ffrf.org/fttoday/back/evangel.html |access-date=2005-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126021026/http://ffrf.org/fttoday/back/evangel.html |archive-date=2005-11-26 }}
* Browne, Janet (2002). ''The Power of Place'', Volume 2 of the ''Biography of Charles Darwin''. Alfred Knopf 
* Hitchens, Christopher (2001). ''Letters to a Young Contrarian ({{ISBN|0-465-03032-7}})''. New York: Basic Books.
* Maritain, Jacques (1953). ''The Range of Reason.'' London: Geoffrey Bles. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130407012751/http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm Electronic Text]
** Note: Chapter 8, ''The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism'' (p.&nbsp;103–117, [https://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range08.htm Electronic Text]) is reprinted from ''Review of Politics'', Vol. 11 (3) July 1949, p.&nbsp;267–280 [https://web.archive.org/web/20051113062053/http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/jm3303.htm Electronic Text]. A version also appears ''The Listener'', Vol. 43 No.1102, 9 March 1950. pp.&nbsp;427–429, 432.
* {{cite news |author=Segal, David |title=Atheist evangelist |type=article |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=26 October 2006 |page=C01 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501998.html}}
* Witham, Larry (2003). ''By Design'', Encounter Books
* {{cite magazine |last=Wolff |first=Gary |date=November 2006 |title=The new atheism: The church of the non-believers |type=reprint |magazine=[[Wired magazine]] |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/atheism.html?pg=1&topic=atheism&topic_set=}}
* Wright, N.T. (2005). ''The Last Word'', Harper San Francisco
* OHCHR (2024). Hatred based on religion or belief must be addressed holistically.

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[[Category:Antitheism| ]]