{{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 should be opposed.<ref name=Cline-About/><ref name=FreeDict-antitheism/> The term has had a range of applications. In secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any deity. Unlike antireligion, antitheism is not against those religions that do not have deities, such as some sects of Buddhism and Jainism.
==Etymology== The word ''antitheism'' (or hyphenated ''anti-theism'') has been recorded in English since 1788.<ref name=EtymOnln-antitheism/> The etymological roots of the word are the Greek ''anti'' and ''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 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 properties of any deity== {{See also|misotheism|misotheism#dystheism|dystheism}} 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/>
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/>
The term's purported exclusion of atheists and agnostics disputed by ''Patheos'' in 2011.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to the properties of any deity include some forms of Atheistic Satanism and maltheism.
==Opposition to the existence and the properties of any deity== {{further|misotheism#eutheism}} The ''definition'' of Robert Flint (1877), Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh was similar. Flint's 1877 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 ''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}}
==See also== {{Portal|Religion }} {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * Antireligion * Materialism * Naturalism (philosophy) * Negative and positive atheism * New Atheism * Post-theism * Secular humanism {{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. 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 |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.
{{Theism}} {{irreligion}} {{Criticism of religion}}
Category:Antitheism