"This exploration of critical views on the nature and existence of God, as expressed by major philosophers of the Western world from the medieval period to the present day, is the last work of internationally recognized philosopher Paul Edwards. Edwards addresses how the concept of God has changed over the centuries, in large part due to the analyses of such skeptical thinkers as David Hume, Thomas Paine, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell." "A longtime critic of theistic arguments, Edwards demonstrates a masterful understanding of the ways in which the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, the evolutionary materialism of the nineteenth century, and the rise of analytic and existentialist philosophies in the twentieth century prepared the way for the growing role of atheism in the twenty-first century." "This work is an idiosyncratic evaluation of the views of dozens of Western thinkers on perennial topics in the philosophy of religion. Though not all of the philosophers discussed were nonbelievers or antireligious, they can be considered to be "freethinkers." They pursued the cause of knowledge wherever their thinking led them, often to iconoclastic positions."--Jacket.