The King's Christmas speech faced a backlash from evangelicals and conservative commentators for focusing on multifaith worship and ecumenical links with Rome.
David Robertson, writing for Christian Today, said the King's festive message was a predictable diet of vague moralising and therapeutic deism.
He wrote, 'The trouble is that while it fits the doctrines of the new State religion, it is way out of step with the religion of the one whose birth we were supposed to be celebrating.
'It is not that there is nothing Christian in it, but rather that it is a "pick 'n' mix" version of Christ's teaching. But as a wise man (Augustine) once said: "If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself."'
The Protestant Council issued a statement, saying that the King's speech 'was a sincere and heartfelt attempt to promote peace at home and abroad'.
But nevertheless, 'the pursuit of reconciliation between the Biblical Protestant Christian faith and Roman Catholicism is an impossibility without fundamentally compromising the faith.'
