Such claim isn't surpising given that modern scientists don't have a general classical education like it was the case back then. Just try to read some schrodinger for instance, you will be astonished to the intellectual quality of his writings, not only on scientific matters, but also on his philosophical and metaphysical thoughts ( nature and the greeks for instance ). That isn't surpising because back then, knoweldge was way more general and most physicians had a serious background in epistemology/classical studies/philosophy. Hence, they didn't mix the domains of knowledge and know the basis of metaphysics, which allow them to interpret their scientific ( i:e, material ) discoveries with the light of philosophical thought.
But with the specialization of knoweldge, most scientists don't have a clue on basic metaphysical thought. It's as positive and negative, because they can actually go further in their research, having more time to spend on their particular domain. On the other hand, when they try to think outside of their own domain, they end up tottaly clueless and mostly resort to sci-fi maymays. The same default apply to modern philosophers who have absolutely no clue of modern science, because they don't have the time to study it, and often mix shits up ( like thinking on maths according to what they read in Kant's works, which was based on a tottaly euclidian vision).
For that particular subject, most scientists don't have a clue on what the concept of God refers to, be it in Philosophy or in Christian theology. They think of him as a super-being, i:e a material thing, who is materially, physically existing in the universe. Which of course, based on scientific methodology, isn't consistent. But God can't be existant in this material world, according to most Christian theology and Philosophical thoughts. God, on the contrary of finite, material objects, is infinite, and thus, can be perceived by us as a nothingness.