ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the meanings of 'atheist' and 'atheism'. Words for 'atheist' and 'atheism' are far older than the Renaissance, or even European civilization, and Enlightenment thinkers did not have to invent their meanings. The translators of Plutarch's essay against the Stoics relayed his thoughts about atheism, which were controversial opinions during the Renaissance: belief in god may not be universal for all peoples, and there have been authentic atheists among philosophers. Atheism will object to whatever god(s) that theism happens to affirm, but theism has affirmed doctrines designed for responding to atheist objections. Calvin's theology asserts that each person is intuitively aware of God, in order to forestall atheology's argumentative basis in natural reason, further illustrating how sixteenth-century theology was informed about aspects of philosophical atheism. Ambitious theologians exhibiting their argumentative prowess against a well-reasoned atheism were often accused of explaining atheism too clearly or fairly.
