DERRICK Holt is a fine watercolour artist and, like all other artists and musicians, he should know that he is only a medium through which the creative force in the universe flows.

In his letter (Viewpoints, December 18) Derrick seems to overlook the relevant sections of religious teaching that contain scientific facts which, at the time, human beings could not possibly have known about.

There are many examples, but those which stand out are from the Old Testament, where the Earth is described as a globe, hanging in space, suspended by nothing.

The Qur’an states that life was created from water after a massive explosion in the universe.

No human intelligence at the time this was written could possibly have known about these facts, which are now accepted as relatively modern scientific discoveries.

Much as science would have us believe otherwise, religion was revealed to a very reluctant human race, by highly intelligent spiritual sources from within the greater dimensions of the universe.

Humans, by their very nature, used this information not for the purpose it was intended to spread peace and understanding throughout the world, but as a weapon to control and manipulate their fellow beings.

Unfortunately this is still happening today, where people would rather go out and destroy the life around us, than contemplate the magnificent force that created it.

EDWARD SANDERSON, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford