Christian actor Kevin Sorbo defended himself on Thursday after making controversial statements about Jews in an interview earlier this week.
Sorbo appeared on Christian radio show "Vocal Point" on Monday, and said that the Jews killed Jesus. He now says that he should have worded his statements differently.
The 55-year-old was featured on the GraceFM program to promote the DVD release of his film "God's Not Dead." During the radio interview, Sorbo and host Jerry Newcombe discussed the anti-Semitic accusations made against Mel Gibson when he released "The Passion of the Christ."
"Oh, he got attacked when he was shooting 'The Passion,' from the Jewish community, saying, 'Look at the way you're portraying us,'"Sorbo said. "I mean, I go, 'Okay, news bulletin: You did kill Jesus."
"Well, they delivered him over to the Romans, right," Newcombe added.
"Exactly," Sorbo responded. "They did deliver him, so they had a hand in it."
The actor recently clarified his inflammatory statements.
"Here's the deal. Here's reality. The Jewish leaders offered Jesus up to Pilate, preferring to free a hardened criminal," Sorbo told The Blaze. "Did all Jews at that time hate Jesus? Of course they did not. The people screamed to let the hardened criminal go. That's in the book. That's in the facts.
"After all, [Jesus] was Jewish and... the Jewish leaders and a handful of Jews [gave him up]," he continued. "It was more like they were accomplices to his murder. They knew he was going to be murdered. There was no question."
Although he stands by the message he delivered on "Vocal Point," Sorbo said he could have rephrased his statements.
"I should have worded it better. We live in such an age where everything is scrutinised," the former "Hercules" star said. "Liberals love to project a false image on the wall and get very upset with the image they've created themselves."
Sorbo is also promoting the upcoming movie "Let the Lion Roar" – a docu-drama in which he plays French theologian John Calvin. The film will be released to video on September 19.
