Gilson: "The words of Nietzsche, “God is dead,” have become a cliché"

“HOWEVER, even if it would be ridiculous to demonstrate that Napoleon I is dead—a proposition, by the way, that cannot be demonstrated scientifically—it is far from ridiculous to undertake the demonstration of the proposition that there is no God. The mere fact that men still go to the trouble of declaring themselves atheists, and of justifying their disbelief by means of such arguments as the existence of evil, clearly show that the issue is still a living one. If the death of God means his final death in the minds of men, the persistent vitality of atheism constitutes for atheism its most serious difficulty. God will really be dead when no one will think of denying his existence. Until then, the death of God remains an unconfirmed rumor.”

~Etienne Gilson: "The Idea of God and the Difficulties of Atheism," in The Great Ideas Today 1969; Encyclopedia Britannica.