As an Anglican, I find Peter Atkins's complaints to be without foundation. First, the Bible shows that Jesus amazed the intellectuals of his day - no lack of reason or understanding there. And Jesus was never accused of adopting laziness as a mode of argument.
As to Atkins's point about evidence, presumably he has not read what Lord Darling, a former chief justice of England, said: "In its favour as living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true."
Jesus advocated peace to all, and his love for others has the power to change lives 2,000 years later, so Atkins's complaint about the blighting of individual freedom and setting humanity against humanity also falls by the wayside.
Nicholas Maude
Finance department London Guildhall University