Sir — The problem which Paul Surman expresses (Letters, September 5) is that science and religion are such different ways of looking at the world that they are very difficult to unite.

Just as you can’t express mathematically your love for your Mother, it is also very difficult to rationalise religious faith. Whilst there are many highly respected religious apologeticists, the mixing of science and religion has also resulted in the travesty of “intelligent design”.

I can also truly empathise with Nicholas Lawrence (Letters, September 5), and his bewilderment at a God who would allow such suffering in the world. In Richard Attenborough’s film Shadowlands I think C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) sums it up nicely when he says: “I'm not sure that God particularly wants us to be happy. He wants us to love and be loved.”

Dr Daniel Emlyn-Jones, Oxford