St Matthew-in-the-City Church in Auckland (New Zealand) came under fire after it put up a billboard showing the Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed appearing to be naked after having disappointing sex. The billboard says - "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."

Within hours of unveiling, the billboard was defaced by outraged Christians in the area.

The church seem to have put it up to cause a mizozo and seems like they were successful in causing a global debate.

The church's vicar, Archdeacon Glynn Cardy, said the aim of the billboard had been to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story.
Mary and Joseph billboard from St Matthew-in-the-City church in Auckland

"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he told the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA).

"Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?"

He told NZPA that the church had received e-mails and phone calls about the controversial image.

"About 50% said they loved it, and about 50% said it was terribly offensive," he said. "But that's out of about 20 responses - this is New Zealand." Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Obviously a lot of Christians were offended by an idea for the debate, as it is believed that Mary was a virgin and Christ was the son of God and not Joseph.

But Lyndsay Freer, spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, said the poster was offensive to Christians.

"Our Christian tradition of 2,000 years is that Mary remains a virgin and that Jesus is the son of God, not Joseph," she told the New Zealand Herald. "Such a poster is inappropriate and disrespectful."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

What do you guys think? Does the literal interpretation of bible correct?