Wikipedia's first sentence called it “view that the question of the existence of deities is meaningless because it has no verifiable consequences”. Today it says “idea that the question of the existence of god is meaningless because the word " god " has no coherent and unam”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Ignosticism (sometimes called apathetic agnosticism or apatheism ) is the view that the question of the existence of deities is meaningless because it has no verifiable consequences, and should therefore be ignored. The term was coined by Rabbi Sherwin Wine , founder of The Society for Humanistic Judaism . The defining question for an ignostic (apathetic agnostic) is: How would you behave if it were proved beyond a doubt that there is - or is not - a God? The answer would be, "I would have no reason to act any differently." v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16673855.
The opening as it stood in 2010 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Agnosticism Agnostic atheism Apatheism List of agnostics People Atheists Agnostics Humanists Books The Age of Reason Breaking the Spell The Demon-Haunted World The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great Letter to a Christian Nation The System of Nature Why I Am Not a Christian Why I Am Not a Muslim Why I Am an Atheist List of irreligious organizations American Atheists American Humanist Association Atheist Alliance International Center for Inquiry Freedom from Religion Foundation Humanists International Humanists UK Internet Infidels Recovering from Religion Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics Irreligion by country v t e Ignosticism , or igtheism , is the theological position that every other theological position (including agnosticism ) assumes too much about the concept of god and many other theological concepts.The word "ignosticism" was coined by Sherwin Wine , a rabbi and a founding figure in Humanistic Judaism .It can be defined as encompassing two related views about the existence of god : The view that a coherent definition of god must be presented before the question of the existence of god can be meaningfully discussed.Furthermore, if that definition is unfalsifiable , the ignostic takes the theological noncognitivist position that the question of the existence of god (per that definition) is meaningless.In this case, the concept of god is not considered meaningless; the term "god" is considered meaningless.The second view is synonymous with theological noncognitivism, and skips the step of first asking "What is meant by 'god'?" before proclaiming the original question "Does god exist?" as meaningless.Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism , while others have considered it to be distinct.An ignostic maintains that they cannot even say whether he/she is a theist or an atheist until a sufficient definition of theism is put forth.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370809589.
The opening as it stood in 2015 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Age of Reason Breaking the Spell The Demon-Haunted World The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great Letter to a Christian Nation The System of Nature Why I Am Not a Christian Why I Am Not a Muslim Why I Am an Atheist List of irreligious organizations American Atheists American Humanist Association Atheist Alliance International Center for Inquiry Freedom from Religion Foundation Humanists International Humanists UK Internet Infidels Recovering from Religion Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics Irreligion by country v t e Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God and other theological concepts. Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism , whereas others have considered it to be distinct.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 661139347.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless, because the word has no coherent and unambiguous definition Agnosticism Agnostic atheism Apatheism List of agnostics People Atheists Agnostics Humanists Books The Age of Reason Breaking the Spell The Demon-Haunted World The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great Letter to a Christian Nation The System of Nature Why I Am Not a Christian Why I Am Not a Muslim Why I Am an Atheist List of irreligious organizations American Atheists American Humanist Association Atheist Alliance International Center for Inquiry Freedom from Religion Foundation Humanists International Humanists UK Internet Infidels Recovering from Religion Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics Irreligion by country v t e Experiences Practices Belief Esotericism Faith Fideism Gnosis Hermeticism Metaphysics Mysticism Prayer Revelation Worship Related topics Euthyphro dilemma God complex God gene Theology Ontology Problem of evil ( theodicy ) Religion philosophy texts Portrayals of God in popular media Religion portal v t e Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word " God " has no coherent and unambiguous definition.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 957078341.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless Agnosticism Agnostic atheism Apatheism List of agnostics People Atheists Agnostics Humanists Books The Age of Reason Breaking the Spell The Demon-Haunted World The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great Letter to a Christian Nation The System of Nature Why I Am Not a Christian Why I Am Not a Muslim Why I Am an Atheist List of irreligious organizations American Atheists American Humanist Association Atheist Alliance International Center for Inquiry Freedom from Religion Foundation Humanists International Humanists UK Internet Infidels Recovering from Religion Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics Irreligion by country v t e Experiences Practices Belief Esotericism Faith Fideism Gnosis Hermeticism Metaphysics Mysticism Prayer Revelation Worship Related topics Euthyphro dilemma God complex God gene Theology Ontology Problem of evil ( theodicy ) Religion philosophy texts Portrayals of God in popular media Religion portal v t e Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word " God " has no coherent and unambiguous definition.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1157597000.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless Experiences Practices Belief Esotericism Faith Fideism Gnosis Hermeticism Metaphysics Mysticism Prayer Revelation Worship Related topics Euthyphro dilemma God complex God gene Theology Ontology Problem of evil ( theodicy ) Religion philosophy texts Portrayals of God in popular media Religion portal v t e Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word " God " has no coherent and unambiguous definition.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1286143966. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “view that the question of the existence of deities is meaningless because it has no verifiable consequences”. Today it says “idea that the question of the existence of god is meaningless because the word " god " has no coherent and unam”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
view that the question of the existence of deities is meaningless because it has no verifiable consequences
Now
idea that the question of the existence of god is meaningless because the word " god " has no coherent and unam
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
