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An Atheist is a firm believer that God does not exist. An Agnostic is a firm believer that we don't know if God exists or not.

An Atheist will categorically deny the existence of God, the potential of a God or Gods, and outright refuse to accept the possibility that the universe was created by a higher power. To an Atheist, there is no meaning of life - life just happened for no reason at all, and when you die, you're dead.

An Agnostic is open to possibility, neither subscribing to God or any version of a higher power, but instead lives their life believing that there really could be something out there, but as long as we are merely human, it's impossible to know.

Both Atheists and Agnostics require proof. The essential difference is that Atheists believe a lack of proof of the existence of God is proof in itself that God doesn't exist. The Agnostic believes a lack of proof might just mean we don't have the proof - yet.

In a sense, Agnostics are more like scientists, open to possibility but not subscribing to any one possibility until verifiable fact can help us determine the most likely truth. Atheists on the other hand are more like the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal from Douglas Adams' Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, which believes if it can't see it, it doesn't exist.

Of course, by default, the Agnostic accepts that the Atheist might also be right...

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