Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Early Atheism?

What exactly IS the earliest known History of Atheism? Who coined the phrase "Atheist" and how did the entire movement come about?

6 Answers

Relevance
  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Atheism was very common in the early Greek philosophies, the Epicureans were almost certainly atheist and they were following earlier traditions.

    As for the term itself it has Greek origins but I'm not sure whether they used the term itself.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    There has always been atheism as long as there have been people to contemplate the idea of a god. The earliest humans were most likely atheists. The evidence shows that the first ever religious beliefs were held (invented) by Neanderthal man. Anyone before that was most likely atheist.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Atheism always existed since it is the null position.

    We are all born atheist, so before religion was invented, we were all atheists.

    The earliest religious history is in itself the earliest atheist history, since there was all ways someone smart enough to realize the rest were morons.

  • 1 decade ago

    ChooseReality says: "The earliest humans were most likely atheists"

    Perhaps the "earliest humans" on ChooseReality's family tree.

    My ancestral charts show my earliest ancestors, the earliest humans, were Adam and Eve. If they were Atheists, they must have wondered how they just suddenly appeared in that beautiful Garden!! Rather difficult, I'd think, to be Atheists when the Lord God talked with them in the cool of the evenings in the Garden!!

  • How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Atheism isn't structured nor organized. No history of it can be had given that. Atheism isn't a 'movement', it's one single idea, nothing more: there are no deities. That's it.

    a (not) theos (deity). atheos ---> atheist. Greek in origin.

  • 1 decade ago

    when ever you put "a" infront of something it means "not" like sexual and asexual. biotic and abiotic (not living), theist (god believing) and atheist (not god believing)

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.