Stephen Fry’s mock confrontation with God during an interview with Gay Byrne saw Twitter transform into streams of philosophical pondering, angry Christian trolling and admiration.

“Suppose it’s all true, and you walk up to the pearly gates, and are confronted by God,” Bryne asked on his show The Meaning of Life. “What will Stephen Fry say to him, her, or it?”

“I’d say, bone cancer in children? What’s that about?” Fry replied.

Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Show all 19 1 /19 Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being Bipolar "There’s a moment in the film where I recognised that this was the last moment we filmed before this wave of depression came over me, and I was idiotic or victim enough, or whatever one wants to call it, of this mad compulsion." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Taking Cocaine At Buckingham Palace "I take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly, to the owners, managers or representatives of the noble and ignoble premises and to the hundreds of private homes, offices, car dashboards, tables, mantelpieces and available polished surfaces that could so easily have been added to this list of shame." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On His Age "I don't need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Swearing "It would be impossible to imagine going through life without swearing and without enjoying swearing." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On TV "I don't watch television. It destroys the art of talking about oneself." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Happiness "Having a great intellect is no path to being happy." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Technology "One technology doesn't replace another, it complements. Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being On Stage "You are who you are when nobody's watching." Geraint Lewis Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Education "Education is the sum of what students teach each other between lectures and seminars." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Creativity "An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them." Getty Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Journalism "Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which at least does us all some good." PA WIRE Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Love "Love in all eight tones and all five semitones of the word's full octave." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On The English Accent "A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there." REX Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being An Author "I get an urge, like a pregnant elephant, to go away and give birth to a book." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homosexuality "I’ve never wanted one extra gay person in the world, there are plenty of us around." Susannah Ireland / The Independent Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Christmas "Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better to arrive." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Clichés "It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always hurt me." BBC Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Smoking "I think I have always linked smoking and sex. Maybe this is where I have been going wrong all my life." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homophobia "Homosexuals are not interested in making other people homosexuals. Homophobes are interested in making other people homophobic."

“Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain. That’s what I would say. ”

His comments led the incoming head of Ireland’s Presbyterian Church, Rev Ian McNie, to brand him “spiritually blind”.

“I felt sorry for the man that his understanding of life is simply confined to the here and now and from his position of atheism there is no hope for the future,” McNie said.

Speaking about the outcry his comments have caused on BBC Radio 4’s the Today show, Fry apologised for any offence he might have caused.

“I don’t think I mentioned once any certain religion, and I certainly didn’t intend, and I know I didn’t, to say anything offensive towards any particular religion,” he said. “I said quite a few things that were angry at this supposed God. I was merely saying things that Bertrand Russell and many finer heads of the mind have said for many thousands of years, going all the way back to the Greeks.

“I am astonished that it has caused so viral an explosion on Twitter and elsewhere. I’m most pleased that it’s got people talking. I’d never wish to offend anybody who is individually devout or pious and goes about their religious ways, and indeed many Christians have been in touch with me and said that they’re very grateful that things have been talked about.”

Also being talked about today is this satirical response piece created by Irish spoof site WaterfordWhispersNews.com, joking that Byrne had had to receive counselling following his interview with Fry.