Dean John stands by condemnation of 'God's wrath'

Got hate mail: Dean Jeffrey John

THE Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, received “a deluge of hate-filled messages” after public condemnation in advance of his Lent talk broadcast on Holy Wednesday evening on BBC Radio 4. Many, he says in a letter to the Church Times published today, were “abusive and obscene”. The Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Revd Wallace Benn, and the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent, responded before they had heard or read the full text of Dr John’s reflection on the crucifixion, but after previews by The Sunday Telegraph, and, on the Wednesday morning, by the BBC’s Today programme. The Dean describes the Sunday Telegraph report as “partial and inflammatory”, and accompanied by a “scandalously false” headline: “Easter message: Christ did not die for our sins”. Read more