Writing exclusively in the Yorkshire Post today, Mr Taylor accuses the Church of disgracing the arguments of the Bible, and some of its bishops of replacing Christian teaching with "beliefs more acceptable to our derelict society".

The former vicar of Cloughton, who self-published his first book Shadowmancer which later became an international bestseller, was also a policeman and has been frank about his own less-than-spiritual failings prior to his conversion to Christianity.

The 51-year-old was ordained after his return to Yorkshire following a period living in London, working in the record industry.

Mr Taylor, of Scarborough, writes: "The Church I once loved has, on the whole, become the spiritual arm of New Labour. What the rank and file believes is truly not the same as the leadership. Bishops charged by God to to fight against erroneous teachings appear to embrace them gleefully."

The Roman Catholic church, on the other hand, "doesn't seem to be afraid to stand up for important moral issues".

No hope, no love, no grace: