Wikipedia's first sentence called it “viewed as a common mythology of the jewish people”. Today it says “atheism of people who follow the ethnic and cultural construct of jewishness”.
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
Jewish community who does not believe in God but still considers himself a Jew and perhaps retains some of the customs of the Jewish faith. No mention of a divine force in Jewish history would be accepted literally; the Torah is viewed as a common mythology of the Jewish people, not a faith document or correct history. v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16934138.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Books Atheism: The Case Against God Breaking the Spell De rerum natura The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great The System of Nature Related stances Outline Category Philosophy portal WikiProject v t e Jewish atheism is practiced by atheists who are ethnically and to some extent culturally Jewish .Because Jewishness encompasses ethnic as well as religious components, the term "Jewish atheism" does not necessarily imply any kind of contradiction.Based on Jewish law's emphasis on matrilineal descent, Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept as fully Jewish an atheist born to a Jewish mother.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 357544166.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Books Atheism: The Case Against God Breaking the Spell De rerum natura The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great The System of Nature Related stances Outline Category Philosophy portal WikiProject v t e Jewish atheism refers to the atheism of people who are ethnically and (at least to some extent) culturally Jewish . Because Jewishness encompasses ethnic as well as religious components, the term "Jewish atheism" does not necessarily imply a contradiction. Based on Jewish law's emphasis on matrilineal descent, even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish.A 2011 study found that half of all American Jews have doubts about the existence of God , compared to 10–15% of other American religious groups.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668266638.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Books Atheism: The Case Against God Breaking the Spell De rerum natura The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great The System of Nature Related stances Outline Category Philosophy portal WikiProject v t e Jewish atheism refers to the atheism of people who are ethnically and (at least to some extent) culturally Jewish . Because Jewish identity is ethnoreligious (i.e., it encompasses ethnic as well as religious components), the term "Jewish atheism" does not inherently entail a contradiction. Based on Jewish law 's emphasis on matrilineal descent , even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish . A 2011 study found that half of all American Jews have doubts about the existence of God , compared to 10–15% of other American religious groups. "What Makes a Jew "Jewish"?" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 945638776.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Atheism practiced by ethnic and cultural Jews Not to be confused with Jewish secularism . Books Atheism: The Case Against God Breaking the Spell De rerum natura The End of Faith The God Delusion God Is Not Great The System of Nature Related stances Outline Category Philosophy portal WikiProject v t e Jewish atheism refers to the atheism of people who are ethnically and (at least to some extent) culturally Jewish . Contrary to popular belief, the term "Jewish atheism" is not a contradiction because Jewish identity encompasses not only religious components, but also ethnic and cultural ones.Jewish law 's emphasis on descent through the mother means that even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish .Jewish secularism , which describes Jews who do not explicitly reject the existence of God but also do not believe it is an important part of their Jewishness, has a long tradition in the United States.A 2013 study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of self-described American Jews say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture, while just 15% say it is mainly a matter of religion.Even among Jews by religion, 55% say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture, while 66% say it is not necessary to believe in God to be Jewish. "What Makes a Jew "Jewish"?" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171262679.
The opening as it stood in 2025 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Atheism practiced by ethnic and cultural Jews Not to be confused with Jewish secularism . Jewish atheism is the atheism of people who are ethnically and (at least to some extent) culturally Jewish . "Jewish atheism" is not a contradiction because Jewish identity encompasses not only religious components but also, and for most Jews mainly, ethnic and cultural ones. Jewish law 's emphasis on descent through the mother means that even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish . Jewish secularism , which describes Jews who do not explicitly reject the existence of God but also do not believe it is an important part of their Jewishness , has a long tradition in the United States . de Lange, Nicholas Robert Michael (2000). An Introduction to Judaism (2nd ed.). "What Makes a Jew "Jewish"?" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296910098. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “viewed as a common mythology of the jewish people”. Today it says “atheism of people who follow the ethnic and cultural construct of jewishness”. 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
viewed as a common mythology of the jewish people
Now
atheism of people who follow the ethnic and cultural construct of jewishness
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.
