The relationship between science and religion and the movement toward a secular perspective is usually traced to the late Middle Ages. Before then, “science” was not seen as a coherent, systematic way of approaching the analysis of natural phenomena, and human beings generally believed in a theocentric universe. This era of change is generally known as the Scientific Revolution.

The contemporary questioning of divinity, specifically Judeo-Christian monotheism, was greatly accelerated by World War II, owing to the Holocaust and other atrocities and the development and use of atomic bombs. For many scientists, however, religious belief and scientific work are not incompatible.

In 1966, the movement toward secular worldview was famously featured in Time magazine; one of the most controversial magazine covers ever published asked, “Is God Dead?” The 50 year retrospective includes numerous commentaries related to the question you have posed.

First, we should observe that many (probably most) people reconcile their religious faith with their understanding of science. They do not see the two as mutually exclusive. But science does tend to cast doubt on literal interpretations of religious texts, most of which were written in a pre-scientific era. The most famous example of this, perhaps, is the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. This contradicts a literal reading of most creation stories, such as that written in the Biblical book of Genesis, in which God created the earth and its living things in seven days. Likewise, the Copernican model of the universe contradicts the Bible, which describes the sun as being in motion. This is why Copernicus's book was banned by the Church after his death. As for the issue of everlasting life, science can really take no position on that. Science is concerned with testable theories, and scientists simply cannot test a theory about life after death. So since the sixteenth century, modern science has reached observable, testable conclusions that contradict some things in religious texts. But because the core claims of the major religions are supernatural by definition, they cannot be tested by science and thus cannot be proven nor disproven. They are matters of personal faith, which is the antithesis of the critical approach fundamental to science.