The conventional explanation of the Crucifixion is illogical, insane and makes God sound like a psychopath, according to one of the country’s most controversial clergymen.

The Very Rev Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans, attacked the doctrine of penal substitution — the idea that God sent Jesus to earth to suffer for our sins — during a Lent talk on BBC Radio 4 last night.

Dr John was forced to stand down as Bishop of Reading in 2003 after it emerged that he was homosexual.

Evangelists last night rounded on his views as bordering on heresy.

In his radio lecture Dr John revealed that he had taken issue with the traditional teaching of the Crucifixion from a young age.

He said: “What sort of God was this, getting so angry with the world and the people he created, and then, to calm himself down, demanding the blood of his own Son?

“And anyway, why should God forgive us through punishing somebody else? It was worse than illogical, it was insane. It made God sound like a psychopath.”

A spokesman for the BBC said: “Lent Talks are short, individual authored opinions in which the contributor is invited to reflect on a different part of Christ’s Passion.

“There will be those who agree with the points being made and those who disagree.”