Introduction by Henry S. Salt.

Narrated by Oberon Michaels

The Necessity of Atheism was first published by Shelley in 1811. In 1813 he printed a revised and expanded version of it as one of the notes to his poem Queen Mab.

Shelley evinced a searing contempt for organized religion but maintained a belief in a benevolent non-sectarian World Spirit.

in the opening statement of this pamphlet, he makes clear the nature of his qualified deism:

"There is no God. This negation must be understood solely to affect a creative Deity. The hypothesis of a pervading Spirit co-eternal with the universe remains unshaken."