An Informal Introduction to Covenantal Apologetics: Part 43 – Agnosticism.

By C.L. Bolt

Since Romans 1 teaches a universal belief in God, if the Christian world view is true, then agnosticism is contradictory and thus false. But let’s assume for the sake of argument that agnosticism is true, and the agnostic really does not know whether or not God exists:

If God exists, then everyone knows that God exists;
The agnostic does not know that God exists;
Therefore, God does not exist.

The agnostic’s position of agnosticism assumes at the outset that God does not exist. But this is atheism, not agnosticism. For agnosticism to both be agnosticism and not be agnosticism is a contradiction. Agnosticism, if true, entails that it is false. Therefore it is false. The agnostic either knows that God exists, or he knows that God does not exist, so that he cannot rest peacefully on some allegedly neutral agnosticism during the course of his life. Unfortunately, most agnostics find atheism untenable. They must therefore embrace theism.

Contrary to the Christian world view, the implication of agnosticism is that facts, objects, and subjects of knowledge can exist apart from God. Agnostics try to avoid making a positive statement concerning ultimate matters, but simultaneously affirm a universally negative statement. Agnostics have, “already given one of the two possible answers to every question of epistemology that may be asked.” (Van Til) One definite thing the agnostic says about ultimate reality is that God does not exist. Agnosticism is hence not open-minded, but closed-minded on the subject of the existence of God, and thus it is both psychologically and epistemologically self-contradictory. But in order to affirm the self-contradictoriness of agnosticism, the agnostic must prove the non-existence of God. However the agnostic needs every fact prior to proving the non-existence of God, or even commenting concerning the nature of any fact, since one fact may influence others. The agnostic will never get all of these facts in. The agnostic makes mutually-exclusive statements about ultimate reality, being open and closed-minded, but has no basis upon which to understand this contradiction. The agnostic might affirm that contradiction is simply meaningless, but this assumes that there is something other than meaninglessness.

To summarize and complete the argument, agnosticism is self-contradictory because Christianity is true. Agnosticism is self-contradictory if anti-theism is true. Therefore, agnosticism presupposes the existence of God.

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