It is important not to confuse my view that religious claims are meaningless with the view that is adopted by atheists, or agnostics. Atheists deny that God exists and agnostics say they do not know...

It is important not to confuse my view that religious claims are meaningless with the view that is adopted by atheists, or agnostics. Atheists deny that God exists and agnostics say they do not know whether He exists. Thus, my view that all claims about the nature of God are meaningless is actually incompatible with each of these familiar positions. For if the sentence ‘God exists’ is meaningless, then the atheist’s claim, ‘God does not exist’, is meaningless too, since only meaningful claims can be meaningfully denied. As for the agnostic, although he says he does not know whether ‘God exists’ or ‘God does not exist’ is true, he must think both claims are meaningful because he thinks that the question ‘Does God exist?’ is a genuine, meaningful question. Since I have insisted that such claims (and questions) are meaningless, my view is incompatible with the agnostic’s position too. (Adapted from the writings of A.J. Ayer, The Existence of God, ed. Hick)