Atheist helps understanding of theology, says Archbishop of Canterbury
Citing Pullman as one of his favourite modern writers, Dr Rowan Williams said he liked his work because it took the church "seriously" at a time when theology was "drifting out" of mainstream thought.
Pullman has been castigated by parts of the Roman Catholic church, particularly in North America, as many consider the trilogy His Dark Materials to be a veiled attack on it.
Although he stressed he disagreed with Pullman's atheistic view, he commended his "search for some way of talking about human value, human depth and three-dimensionality, that doesn't depend on God."...