Preaching the 'John Mere commemoration sermon' at St Benet's Church, Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams carefully framed his remarks on the theme of Christian obedience and hinted of his criticism against Britain's intervention in Iraq.

'We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ' (2 Cor. 10:5) was the theme scripture. Dr Williams said, "St Paul tells his converts to imitate him as he imitates Christ, he sets out what is the most basic form of Christian obedience."

"The way of the world is to learn from each other the habits of acquisitive rivalry that dominate our relations and breed our conflicts."

However, "In relation to Christ, to want what the other wants is to want the Father's will - that is, to want the Father's desire for mercy and joy in all beings."

He stressed, "The best master is the one who is most visibly mastered by demands and standards that have nothing to do with the serving of his own personal interests. If obedience is a form of attention, the attentive person is the one who should command obedience."

This is why political obedience in our age has become so problematic. He argued that the government habitually ignored expert advice and pursued its interests abroad in a way that ignored the needs and interests of wider society, and that habitually repressed criticism or manipulated the media, would jeopardise its claim to obedience.

Referring to Dr William's critical sermon, bishops, theologians and church leaders were quick to come to his support, defending both what he said and his right to say it.

The Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Rev Jack Nicholls, said, "The Archbishop of Canterbury has got a responsibility to articulate his concerns about life in general."

He said that the Archbishop, as someone outside and independent of the political loop, could speak the mind of a lot of people in the country and not just Christians.

There is a clear divide between the Christian authorities and the secular authorities, but the Bishop believes that they should share the same view as all people are under one God and should obey to the heavenly commandment that God had revealed to us through the Christ.

"What Rowan would say, and what I would say with him, is that we say this in love. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are Christians and Christians disagree about things. It does not mean we are not on the same side."