When speaking of knowledge, I think what we have to differentiate here is inherent knowledge versus acquired knowledge.
For example, some theists might say that they do "know" that God exists, but this type of knowing is different type of knowing. It's not the kind of knowledge where you can prove or demonstrate to everyone else that you clearly know the truth. Rather, it is an inner knowing or a very subjective knowing, and thus there is no way for them to prove that which they claim to know. The knowledge might be so deeply ingrained in their psyches that it manifests itself as "belief" at a conscious level. They feel that their knowledge of the existence of God is something innate. That is what I feel also.
So, according to that explanation, I would say that I am a gnostic theist. I know that God exists, but I still cannot prove what I claim to know. Even in mathematical systems, a logician named Kurt Godel (in his Incompleteness Theorem) proved that there are certain axiomatic statements which we know are true, but still they cannot be proved to be true.
"Godel showed that provability is a weaker notion than truth, no matter what axiom system is involved " - Douglas Hofstadter
http://www.miskatonic.org/godel.html
For example, some theists might say that they do "know" that God exists, but this type of knowing is different type of knowing. It's not the kind of knowledge where you can prove or demonstrate to everyone else that you clearly know the truth. Rather, it is an inner knowing or a very subjective knowing, and thus there is no way for them to prove that which they claim to know. The knowledge might be so deeply ingrained in their psyches that it manifests itself as "belief" at a conscious level. They feel that their knowledge of the existence of God is something innate. That is what I feel also.
So, according to that explanation, I would say that I am a gnostic theist. I know that God exists, but I still cannot prove what I claim to know. Even in mathematical systems, a logician named Kurt Godel (in his Incompleteness Theorem) proved that there are certain axiomatic statements which we know are true, but still they cannot be proved to be true.
"Godel showed that provability is a weaker notion than truth, no matter what axiom system is involved " - Douglas Hofstadter
http://www.miskatonic.org/godel.html
