Rm 1, 21b They became vain in their reasoning

(Rm 1, 21b) They became vain in their reasoning

[21b] Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.

(CCC 2126) Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to the point of refusing any dependence on God (Cf. GS 20 § 1). Yet, "to acknowledge God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded and brought to perfection in God...." (GS 21 § 3) "For the Church knows full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart" (GS 21 § 7). (CCC 2127) Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God's existence, declaring it impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny. (CCC 2128) Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical atheism.