ANSWERS: 1
-
That's an interesting question, and one for which you will probably get many conflicting answers. The introduction of Atheism as a definable philosophy wasn't until the Renaissance, if I'm not mistaken. Originally, the word "Atheist" was actually a pejorative, similar to "Heathen", but it was gradually expropriated and turned into a generic term to denote "nonbelievers". But of course, the actual 'thing' to which "Atheism" refers - the lack of belief or disbelief in God(s) - has existed as a state of mind for thousands of years. Also, keep in mind that Atheism and Religion are not necessarily mutually exclusive - Buddhism for example, is a fundamentally non-theistic religion. The Buddha himself denounced unquestioning faith, and never asked to be worshipped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_atheism http://www.investigatingatheism.info/history.html http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990c25.htm
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

by 