In one of his most lucid statements about matters of belief, Hardy identifies himself as “a harmless agnostic” and speculates: “Perhaps I can express more fully in verse ideas and emotions which run counter to the inert crystallized opinion […].” Taking this passage as a starting point, this essay studies Hardy’s tentative, provisional views of life that are signaled by this “perhaps,” which values fluid, rather than “inert,” thinking. His conflicted attitudes towards religious belief resist being summarized as “agnostic,” especially since the assertions of agnostics such as Leslie Stephen were underpinned by rationality: certain in their logical uncertainties. Hardy’s unknowing is characterized by open uncertainties, expressed through what he calls “obstinate questionings.” His fragmentary theorizing never settles on a final solution: recording “seemings” and “unadjusted impressions”; willing to make “endless adjustments”; observing that “all things merge in one another,” rather than making sharp-cut classifications; and, as in William James’ pragmatic view of reality as “still in the making,” believing that poetry and religion, like all things, must “keep moving, becoming.” This essay sounds out the subtle nuances in Hardy’s provisional thinking, while paying particular attention to the texture and patterns of his language, both in his personal writings (such as letters and notes) and in his creative work. It reconsiders Hardy’s impiety in light of Kenneth Burke’s understanding of the term: “an attempt to reorganize one’s orientations from the past,” which takes the form of “questionings.”