Gnostics, outside of the religious order, are those who believe that it is possible to know whether or not gods exist....
No
A Gnostic professes knowledge of god...the ones who acknowledge that it's possible but have yet to make a personal connection with god are called Agnostics.
...most theists are gnostics. They think they *DO* know gods are real. It all depends on exactly how the word is defined whether most atheists would fit into the gnostic or agnostic mold....
Again no, if a person gains a personal knowledge of god, they no longer simply
believe in his existence, they
KNOW he exists.
(Again to understand you have to assume for the sake of argument that god does in fact exist - otherwise you'd have to say Gnostics are deluded individuals)
...the problem is that how the word is used is often nonsensical. Some claim that agnostics are those who do not know gods exist and I'd argue nobody knows because there is no basis upon which to claim knowledge....
In a way they'd be right
An Agnostic doesn't know if god exists, I would argue that neither do Theists.
You are again failing to understand Gnosticism. If we assume, for the sake of argument, that god does in fact exist, then yes an individual could make personal contact with god.
Moses and the burning bush, Lot outside Sodom and Gomorrah, Jonah in the belly of the great fish...
If you have a conversation with god you have categorical proof (ie: knowledge) that god exists. Belief is now superfluous, as are holy books, priests etc etc
...if you define it as the potential to have knowledge, even though you do not now have it, then virtually all atheists would be gnostics because most, at least the ones that I've talked to, think that in order to believe in gods, they would have to know, or at least potentially know, that said gods are real....
No, a Gnostic doesn't have the potential to know god (remember "knowledge of" a person in ancient times meant positive interaction not simply information of or about anyone. If you said you have known a women, it meant an intimate encounter).
A Gnostic professes to have interacted with god. Spoken with him. It didn't just mean that they'd prayed to god and seen their prayers come true.
So if you speak to god and god speaks back to you, you KNOW he exists. It is no longer a matter of belief.
So you can't be a Theist and a Gnostic.
...Theists BELIEVE there is a god of some sort. Atheists LACK belief in any gods....
Correct.
...Agnosticism is not a third position. It is an answer to a completely different question, that about knowledge, not about belief. This is where most people get it wrong....
Where you're getting confused is the meaning of the word "knowledge"
You will be aware of a country called Australia on the far side of the world. Even if you have never been there you
know it exists because of books you've read, actual Australians you've met etc.
Gnosticism is not this kind of knowledge.
In this context, you can't
know Australia exists unless yo actually go there.
I can't
know you, unless we actually meet and interact.
I can't
know god unless we converse in some way.