Whilst God himself may not be as popular as he once was, many people find themselves seeking answers to questions about meaning and purpose. Why are we here? What are we here for? Of course, people have many different ideas about what the word 'God' means, and there are many different views of what God is like - absent or present, knowable or unknowable, bossy or loving. This book explores the most common positions adopted by people who say they do not believe in God, and why they hold those views. It explores why some people doubt the existence of God (agnosticism or skepticism), and why many deny the existence of God (atheism), and then sketches out the New Atheist ideas of God as invented by humans to satisfy human needs, before reviewing philosophical and theological debates over the past century centred on the so-called 'death of God'.

I am a retired academic with more than 30 years experience in university teaching, research and senior management in the UK. These days I enjoy spending time reading, writing, walking and travelling, but not all at the same time!