With the rise of religious fundamentalism worldwide and the expansion of education in 'faith' schools, I consider that promoting the idea that religion and science have some kind of equivalence risks making societies more divisive and backward-looking (see K. Pritchard Nature 537, 451; 2016).

The idea “that science and theology ... can illuminate one another for the benefit of all” would seem to work in only one direction, given that religious beliefs derive from the creation myths of our ancestors many centuries ago. Pritchard discusses the role of religion in “ethical arguments” and in the “human welfare” implications of science, but I would question whether belief in the supernatural confers superior insight in this area.

Moreover, Pritchard's argument considers only the modern European tradition of Christianity, whose interaction with secularism and science over the past two centuries has arguably made it a relatively more tolerant religion. Witness, for example, the ceremonial interment of Charles Darwin in Westminster Abbey in 1882.