In 1927 Wolfgang Pauli made the same remark about Paul Dirac: "But
yes, our friend Dirac has a religion, and the basic postulate of this
religion is: 'There is no God, and Paul Dirac is his prophet' "
(Helge Kragh. Dirac: A Scientific Biography. Cambridge University
Press, 1990, p. 256). The original quip (about Marineau) seems to
have been widely known. It was included in a collection of Jerrol's
bon mots, and was reiterated many times in 19th-century British and
American press.
Yuri Tulupenko