Blessed are the cheesemakers.

That quote from the notorious 'Life of Brian' isn't mocking the Sermon on the Mount. That might have been the intention, but, in fact, it perfectly illustrates what every preacher and teacher knows. The perennial ability of the audience to hear something other than what you actually said. Sometimes it comes out as the opposite of what was said. People hear a 'not' when they shouldn't or don't hear it when they should. I've had it happen to me.

Pity Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, his every word pored over and yet, somehow, very different accounts of what he said appear in print and/or online.

Here you can read what he actually said on Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day'. Here you can read what Andrew Pierce in the Daily Mail made of it. You'll have to scroll down, because he doesn't make much of it. Here you can read what the estimable Cranmer makes of it. It's longer than the ABC's talk. Cranmer makes some very valid points, but I'm not sure that it was really what the ABC meant.

This is what I think:

The ABC is using the Cyprus crisis as a metaphor. He does talk about the Cross and the Resurrection. He applies what he says, but bear in mind it is the 'Thought for the Day'. He is very limited in the time available.

Of course, he could have said something else, but there is always something else any preacher could have said on any one occasion.

Don't take my word for it. Follow the links and judge for yourselves.