BigShinyThing

Critics had written to the UK advertising standards body over a poster for the Peniel Pentecostal Church which pictured a man with a microphone hugging a child beneath the words, “Miracles, Healing, Faith”. They said that the poster was misleading and irresponsible, that the ad was claiming an ability to cure medical conditions but could offer no scientific proof, and that it “preyed on the credulity of vulnerable people”.

The church, run by a former Metropolitan police offer turned insurance salesman turned evangelist (clearly a matched skillset), countered that “There is mounting pressure to be politically correct and try to appease everyone. To take the miracles out of Christianity is to deny the Bible”. The church was supported by a number of Conservative MPs who wrote in a letter to the ASA, “This should be a matter for theological debate not a referral to the ASA”. The ASA said, “We considered that most people in the UK were aware of Christian beliefs and would understand that the poster referred to spiritual, not physical, miracles and healing.”