Bear Grylls has spoken out against organised religion saying it has ruined the story of Jesus.
The Christian adventurer, who doesn’t often go to church, told The Times God isn’t found there: “You don’t need to go to church. Our faith has nothing to do with church.
“We’ve had 2,000 years doing a good job of really screwing it up, wrapping it around religion and rules when the beating heart of the message was always about freedom, laughter, life, love, risk, rescue and sacrifice.”
The 51 year old added that Jesus: “understood all about religion because that’s why he was so angry with it all the time. The religious elite were always the ones distorting the truth for control or for money or for power.”
Grylls’ book, The Greatest Story Ever Told which dramatizes Jesus’ life, has sold more than 190,000 copies and has been published as a special Christmas edition.
He’s hoping it will become the third furthest-reaching book in history after the Bible and the Quran.
Grylls doesn’t shy away from controversy and last year baptised Russell Brand, who had been accused of sexual misconduct. Brand was later charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, allegations he denies.
Grylls said: “I feel in my faith that we’re not called just to love perfect people. I don’t know if he’s guilty or not.
“I love all sorts of people. And again, unashamedly, I’m proud to. I can’t have a faith that says ‘I’m broken and I’ve messed up and I need help’. And also, I’m not going to be a friend to you because you’re broken and you failed and you messed up.”
Grylls, who often speaks in prisons added:
“You can love people without condoning what they do. That’s different, isn’t it? We’re not called to have no boundaries and no morals. You’re loving the person, not their mistakes. That’s the point.
“I was in Wormwood Scrubs last week. You’re not condoning the fact that these guys murdered people. I’m not there going ‘great job’. It’s not saying I’m not sympathetic to victims, of course I am. But we are called to love everyone in our orbit, from the prison guard to the person in the cell.”