While there are several examples of atheists in antiquity there were never any large groups of them (or at least openly atheists). your challenge is to have an earlier rise in open atheism, they don't have to make up the majority of region they're in just large enough that they make up a noticeable percentage .
AHC: have an earlier rise in atheism
- Thread starter Billy the Goat
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- atheism
Massive rise in Theravada Buddhists, who are generally agnostic but deny the utility of worshipping potential divinities. Make India Buddhist, have it spread to Iran and central Asia, and secondary reach from there could take you further.
Thought of 2 European-centered ideas
1) much more devastating religous war following the rise of protestantism, followed by a nihilistic counter-movement, proclaiming that if there were a god, he would’ve stopped the wars much earlier, hence he can’t reasonably exist
2) Much stronger Deism in the early Age of Enlightenment, followed by people ‘proving’ the the non-provability of any type of god, even a non-interventionistic god (Although this in practice is more agnostic than atheistic, in that the argument would go, either there’s a god that couldn’t care less what we do/don’t, or there’s no god at all)
1) much more devastating religous war following the rise of protestantism, followed by a nihilistic counter-movement, proclaiming that if there were a god, he would’ve stopped the wars much earlier, hence he can’t reasonably exist
2) Much stronger Deism in the early Age of Enlightenment, followed by people ‘proving’ the the non-provability of any type of god, even a non-interventionistic god (Although this in practice is more agnostic than atheistic, in that the argument would go, either there’s a god that couldn’t care less what we do/don’t, or there’s no god at all)
rndbabylon
Banned
In relation to you second point, maybe one of the Atheist or Deist state cults during the French Revolution can remain in place? That would definitely help the OP's premise