May I correct Ian Hood’s statement in the August Touchstone that I “sympathise with the scientism viewpoint that only science can provide truth about the world and reality”.

Quite the contrary: I commend to him a section on science in my book Hand in Hand: Blending Secular and Sacred to Enlarge the Human Spirit.

Basically, we have two modes of engaging with the world: the scientific approach which breaks things down into their component parts to show how they work, and a religious approach that seeks to bring things together in imaginative stories, join people in meaningful relationships, and find meaning. We need both.

Ian Harris, Wellington.