Singer Sir Elton John has claimed that Jesus Christ was gay in a sensational interview with an American magazine.
He exclusively told Parade that Jesus was a "super-intelligent gay man" who was "compassionate, forgiving and understood human problems".
He added: "On the cross, he forgave the people who
crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving.
"I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead," he added.
A
spokesman for the Church of England told the BBC: "Sir Elton's reflection that
Jesus calls us all to love and forgive is one shared by all
Christians."
"But insights into aspects of the historic person of Jesus are perhaps best left to the academics," he added.
In the interview, the singer also said he did not like being a celebrity any more because "fame attracts lunatics".
"Princess
Diana, Gianni Versace, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, all dead. Two of
them shot outside their houses. None of this would have happened if
they hadn't been famous. I never had a bodyguard, ever, until Gianni
died," he said.
He also talked about friends lost and American politics. "Every time I sing 'The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes' onstage, I say that this is a
song written about a time when people in America started getting AIDS and your president, Ronald
Reagan, did nothing about it. I get boos. There's a lot of hate in the world."