What is "nontheism"

n. Any of a range of concepts regarding spirituality and religion which do not include the idea of a deity in the form of a theistic god or gods.

Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in a personal god or gods. Nontheism generally is apathy or silence towards the subject of God and differentiates from an antithetical, explicit atheism. Nontheism does not necessarily describe atheism or disbelief in God. It has been used as an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions, such as agnosticism, ignosticism, ietsism, skepticism, pantheism and atheism. It is in use in the fields of Christian apologetics and general liberal theology.

Nontheism can be expressed in a variety of ways. Strong or positive atheism is the positive belief that a god does not exist. Someone who does not think about the existence of a deity may be termed a weak or negative atheist, or more specifically implicitly atheist. Other, more qualified subtypes of nontheism are often known as agnosticism: strong or positive agnosticism is the belief that it is impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist. It is a more precise opinion than weak or negative agnosticism, which is the belief that the existence or nonexistence of any deities is unknown but not necessarily unknowable. Philosopher Anthony Kenny distinguishes between agnostics, who find the claim "God exists" uncertain, and theological noncognitivists, who consider all discussion of God to be meaningless. Some agnostics, however, are not nontheists but rather agnostic theists.

Other related philosophical opinions about the existence of deities are ignosticism and skepticism. Because of the various definitions of the term God, a person could be an atheist in terms of certain conceptions of gods, while remaining agnostic in terms of others.