Actor Christian Bale has upset several Christian writers after he described Moses as 'barbaric' and 'schizophrenic'

Christian Bale, who plays Moses in Exodus: Of Gods and Kings, the forthcoming biblical epic directed by Ridley Scott has upset several Christian writers after he described his character as 'barbaric' and 'schizophrenic'.

Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles last month, Bale said he had undertaken significant research for the role, including also reading the Torah, the Koran and Jonathan Kirsch’s life of Moses.

‘I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life,’ he said.

Bale also said he was surprised by the complexity of the Old Testament figure – and his creator.

‘He was a very troubled, tumultuous man and mercurial. But the biggest surprise was the nature of God. He was equally very mercurial.’

Bale’s controversial comments haven't been well received by Christian writers and bloggers who fear the film is tampering too much with the original Biblical text.

Influential Christian writer, Brian Godawa, who leaked elements of the Noah script online before the movie was finished, weigh in on Bale’s comments at his blog.

'Yes, Moses murdered a man, and he had a character arc that went from being adopted and raised as a pagan Egyptian to a conversion to his troubled and tumultuous faith.

'He had difficulty trusting Yahweh. He didn’t want to be God’s spokesman because he stuttered. And he even had arguments with God.

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Holy Moses! Bale’s controversial comments haven't been well received by Christian writers and bloggers who fear the film is tampering too much with the original Biblical text

'But Schizophrenic? Barbaric? Really?'

Godawa said that he hoped Bale's comment was ‘a reflection of the actor’s own ignorant bigotry than of the actual movie.’

Chris Stone, the founder of Faith Driven Consumer, said he was surprised by Bale’s description of Moses, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

'There’s nothing in the biblical history that supports that,' he said. 'It’s an indication that there will be a tremendous disconnect between Bale’s interpretation and the expectations of the market.'

His organization, which previously campaigned for Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson following the show's suspension, conducted a poll about Exodus.

The poll found that 74 percent of Americans were likely to see the film if it was biblically accurate but that 68 percent were unlikely to see it if it was inaccurate.

'It’s our sincerest hope that this movie resonates with our community, so we sent them the results of our poll,' said Stone. 'Their response was, "we don’t need to have any further conversation."'

Writing for multi-faith website Patheos.com, film critic Peter Chattaway said Bale's remarks went further than simply commenting on the Bible but rather he 'speculates about what was going on inside Moses’ head at the time.'

Many of the same commentators drew similar criticism at Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, which starred Russell Crowe and was released earlier this year.

Exodus: Of Gods and Kings, which is due out on December 12.