Atheism is the doctrine that there is no God. The word, which first appears in English literature in the latter part of the 16th century, is derived from Gr. negative prefix a, and Theos, 'God.' The name atheist is said to have been first applied in Greek literature to one of the followers of the materialistic philosopher Democritus (q.v.). It has been doubted by Addison, Bacon, and Dr
Arnold, whether a real atheist ever existed; indeed, Addison would not have hesitated to say to any man who professed atheism that he was an impudent liar, and that he knew it. But, notwithstanding, it seems unquestionable that there have been, and that there still are such. The ancient Greeks, who detested atheism so cordially that they banished its abettors and branded their names in history, have handed down to us, with this stigma attached to them, the names of Diagoras, of Bion, and of Lucian—men who did not believe in the gods. In recent and modern times such men as La Mettrie, Von Holbach, Feuerbach, and Gustave Flourens—to name no others—have advocated this doctrine in the most explicit manner; and when, for example, Feuerbach says: 'It is clear as the sun, and as evident as the day, that there is no God;' or, when Flourens wrote these words: 'Our enemy is God' . . . 'Hatred of God is the beginning of wisdom' . . . 'If mankind would make true progress, it must be on the basis of atheism,' there seems no reason to doubt that their language may be regarded as expressing their real sentiments.
There are three forms of argument employed in the advocacy of atheism—viz. the dogmatic, which positively asserts that there is no God; the sceptical, which maintains that the finite mind of man is incapable of ascertaining whether there is a Divine Being or not; and the critical, which holds that the evidences adduced in support of Theism (q.v.) are inadequate. The first of these—the dogmatic—has now fallen largely into disrepute. In Britain, this is largely owing to the trenchant reasoning of John Foster, and subsequently of Dr Chalmers. These writers set themselves to show that dogmatic atheism is a palpable absurdity. Before any man is entitled to assert that there is no evidence of the existence of God, he must, they argue, explore all parts of the universe; for evidence that would convince even him may be extant somewhere. To prove a negative is proverbially difficult; but to prove this one, nothing short of omniscience and omnipresence would be requisite. Modern non-believers in the existence of God cautiously restrict themselves to the sceptical and the critical methods, and, instead of positively asserting that there is no God, they argue in favour of Agnosticism (q.v.). The relation of atheists to oaths in courts and in parliament is discussed at OATHS. See also the articles GOD, APOLOGETICS.