"We've always thought of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a joyous outburst of human solidarity. We have a hymn tune from the symphony's Ode to Joy. But McClary helped me to understand that this symphony tells a more violent story, which is one of rape," Bishop Rachel said, acknowledging both theories were based on McClary's book Feminine Endings: Music, Gender and Sexuality.

"Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own," he sermonised. Soon after, in the Shangri-La of Tajikistan, he and his flower-power companions met the wicked witch from the Brothers Grimm. Two ISIS terrorists, overflowing with the milk of global goodness, rammed them with a car, then stabbed and shot them.

As with those letters, many of the sentiments are commendable and uncontroversial. But from the point of view of biblical Christianity there are some notable problems, and some striking omissions.

Here are the 'highlights', with commentary:

He drew on 1 Peter as he said Christians were called to share the hope they have in Jesus 'with gentleness and grace' and not be like the surrounding culture where there is 'the absence of love, competition, no grace, no hope'.

'Communication is so very complex and whatever is said has also to be heard and whatever is heard is not always reflected on in the same way as the original speaker may have intended,' he said.