CAN I suggest to Mr Walt Jackson that Biblical teaching about humanity being made in God’s image is a superb way of indicating that humanity is completely different from the animal creation. All creatures live by instinct, a boundary which they cannot cross.


Humanity on the other hand, is capable of imaginative, creative and inventive thought, and can respond to divine revelation. As for atheists not harming or killing, there is a considerable list of those who have in Prof. Alister McGrath’s Twilight of Atheism.
His comments about some religious sects are true. Their mishandling of Biblical texts is both wrong and embarrassing. Mr Banfield takes offence at them and responds accordingly. But when it has been pointed out to him that responsible scientists have and do have great respect for the Bible, he has no answer other than to say that the Bible is “a book written by a bunch of superstitious goat herders” for which he was suitably rebuked by Mr Charles Reynolds (letter 1/1/13).
When I took along my bookshelves at the great classics of exposition ranging over the centuries, I find it sad that this wonderful book, once so beloved in this country, is now trashed out of existence by those who little understand it.
Tom McCarthy
Gaer Park Parade
Newport