The 12 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination backed the creation of a special liturgy for the marriage of same-sex couples. Roman Catholics and most independent evangelical churches keep defining marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman.

“It is fashionable to attack religion”, thinks Rodney Holder. New atheists are “not well informed about many aspects of Christianity”, adds Conway-Morris. Alister McGrath: “Atheism is noisy, has not good answers.”

Palaeontologist Simon Conway-Morris to Evangelical Focus: “There is absolutely no problem in combining a scientific career with being a person of faith.”