Senior Anglicans are asking the Archbishop of Canterbury to force his ambassador to the Vatican to resign because he does not believe Jesus rose from the dead. In an Easter sermon some years ago Dr John Shepherd said, ‘It is important for Christians to be set free from the idea that the resurrection was an extraordinary physical event, which restored to life Jesus’s original earthly body. The resurrection of Jesus ought not to be seen in physical terms, but as a new spiritual reality.’ He added that the disciples merely ‘felt his presence after his death’, and the Gospel accounts in the Bible were not historical records as we would write history today. Senior Anglicans have rounded on his unorthodox views. Dr Shepherd’s appointment came after the previous ambassador stood down following accusations of sexual misconduct.