# Antitheism > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Antitheism > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Antitheism.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism > Source revision: 1353748647 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{pp|small=yes}} {{short description|Opposition to theism, and usually to religion}} {{See also|Antireligion|Irreligion}} {{Irreligion sidebar|atheism}} '''Antitheism''', also spelled '''anti-theism''', is the philosophical position that [theism](/source/theism) should be opposed. The term has had a range of applications. In [secular](/source/secularism) contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any [deity](/source/deity). Unlike [antireligion](/source/antireligion), antitheism is not against those religions that do not have deities, such as some sects of [Buddhism](/source/Buddhism) and [Jainism](/source/Jainism). ==Etymology== The word ''antitheism'' (or hyphenated ''anti-theism'') has been recorded in English since 1788. The [etymological](/source/etymology) roots of the word are the [Greek](/source/Greek_language) ''anti'' and ''theos.'' The ''[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/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. The term was likely coined by [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](/source/Pierre-Joseph_Proudhon).{{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 }} ==Opposition to theism== ''Antitheism'' has been adopted as a label by those who regard [theism](/source/theism) as dangerous, destructive, or encouraging of harmful behavior. [Christopher Hitchens](/source/Christopher_Hitchens) (2001) wrote: {{blockquote | I'm not even an [atheist](/source/Atheism) 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.}} ==Opposition to properties of any deity== {{See also|misotheism|misotheism#dystheism|dystheism}} Other definitions of antitheism include that of the French Catholic philosopher [Jacques Maritain](/source/Jacques_Maritain) (1953), for whom it is "an active struggle against everything that reminds us of God". [Christopher New](/source/Christopher_New) (1993) 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:
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.{{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}}{{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 }}
New's changed definition has reappeared in the work of W.A. Murphree. The term's purported exclusion of atheists and agnostics disputed by ''[Patheos](/source/Patheos)'' in 2011.{{cite news |author1=Bhodges |title=Book Review: Schweizer, "Hating God: The Untold Story Of Misotheism" |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithpromotingrumor/2011/06/book-review-schweizer-hating-god-the-untold-story-of-misotheism/ |access-date=27 April 2026 |work=Patheos |department=Faith-Promoting Rumor |date=8 June 2011 |language=en}} Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to the properties of any deity include some forms of [Atheistic Satanism](/source/LaVeyan_Satanism) and [maltheism](/source/Misotheism). ==Opposition to the existence and the properties of any deity== {{further|misotheism#eutheism}} The ''definition'' of [Robert Flint](/source/Robert_Flint_(theologian)) (1877), Professor of Divinity at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) was similar. Flint's 1877 [Baird Lecture](/source/The_Baird_Lecture) was titled ''Anti-Theistic Theories''. He used ''"antitheism"'' as a very general [umbrella term](/source/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."{{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](/source/atheism), descriptive of the view that [theism](/source/theism) has been disproven, rather than as the more general term that Flint preferred. He rejected the alternative ''[non-theistic](/source/nontheism):'' 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.{{rp|style=ama|p= 444–445}} ==See also== {{Portal|Religion }} {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * [Antireligion](/source/Antireligion) * [Materialism](/source/Materialism) * [Naturalism (philosophy)](/source/Naturalism_(philosophy)) * [Negative and positive atheism](/source/Negative_and_positive_atheism) * [New Atheism](/source/New_Atheism) * [Post-theism](/source/Post-theism) * [Secular humanism](/source/Secular_humanism) {{div col end}} == References == {{reflist|25em|refs= {{cite web |author=Cline, Austin |title=''Atheism'' and ''anti-theism'': What's the difference? What is "anti-theism"? |website=[About.com](/source/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 }} {{cite dictionary |title=antitheism |dictionary=[The Free Dictionary](/source/The_Free_Dictionary) |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/antitheism }} {{cite dictionary |title=antitheism |dictionary=[Online Etymology Dictionary](/source/Online_Etymology_Dictionary) |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=antitheism&allowed_in_frame=0 }} {{cite book |last=Flint |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Flint (theologian) |year=1894 |orig-year=1877 |title=Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the [Baird Lecture](/source/Baird_Lecture) for 1877 |edition=5th |location=London, UK |publisher=William Blackwood and Sons }} {{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 }}
''See also'' Wikipedia article ''[Letters to a Young Contrarian](/source/Letters_to_a_Young_Contrarian)'' {{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}} {{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 }} {{cite dictionary |title=antitheism |dictionary=The Shorter OED |year=1970 |edition=reprint |page=78 }} }} == 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. 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. 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. 427–429, 432. * {{cite news |author=Segal, David |title=Atheist evangelist |type=article |newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/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](/source/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. {{Theism}} {{irreligion}} {{Criticism of religion}} Category:Antitheism --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Antitheism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitheism?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.