I think there is something fallacious in the inference that God is dead. Even as a metaphor it is lacking. But it does alert us to the indisputable fact that many men no longer detect anything of the Divine in their experience. As such the death-of-God movement is related to the phenomenon of contemporary atheism. Will Herberg ("The Death of God theology," National Review, 9 august 1966, p 771) rightly points out that the death of God theologians are really saying that God has no meaning or relevance for modern man.
-Bernard Murchland, introduction, ix-x

Consequently, the radical problem concerns those human actions that both believers and nonbelievers alike perform: plain, ordinary, nonecclesiastical--in a word, secular-actions. In such actions how does a man of faith in Jesus Christ differ from a man without such faith? ...
One common solution is to point to their different motivations. The Christian acts in imitation of Jesus Christ, but the atheist acts because he believes in justice and equality, and because he has compassion upon those who suffer. However, this solution breaks down. For the Christian may also share the motivations of the atheist; and the atheist may frankly admit that he sees in Christ a model, without accepting "all the other things" about Christ. 74
- Michael Novak, "The Christian and the atheist"