Bill O'Reilly has denounced members of the secular-progressive movement as "condescending" and "arrogant" for the way in which they regard people of faith.

The Catholic-raised Fox News anchor speaks at length about his faith in an interview appearing in the Washington Post, in which he says that he believes the "whole narrative" of the Gospels.

"I'm going to accept it, because there's no reason not to," he says.

O'Reilly has penned a new book, Killing Jesus, co-authored with Martin Dugard, in which he charts the events leading up to the murder of Jesus 2,000 years ago.

He is clear that the book is intended to be a history: "We have 'A History' on the cover.  I just wanted to make the world aware that this man existed."

Last September, O'Reilly commented in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes programme that the inspiration to write Killing Jesus came from the Holy Spirit.

Picking up on this in the Washington Post interview, he stressed that he did not consider himself to be extraordinary and that any positive ideas he has come from the Holy Spirit. 

"It's not you creating this monumental book or song or hitting 500 home runs.  It's the talent that you've been given and that you're blessed with.  That's what's doing it."

He also took a swipe at those who derided his belief in the book being inspired by the Holy Spirit.

"The problem with the secular-progressive movement is it simply cannot accept any people of faith and take them seriously," he said.

"They're so condescending and they're so arrogant that, even though you might be a brilliant person, if you believe, you're an idiot. So that just knocks out the whole Jesuit organisation. It knocks out Thomas Aquinas, Augustine. Everybody is knocked out because they believe."

O'Reilly also took a swipe at atheist Bill Maher, the comedian and TV host who recently described God as a "psychotic mass murderer" because of the Genesis flood. 

Asked why non-believers sneer at those who believe, O'Reilly said it was because they did not want to be judged or told what to do.

"Take a guy like Bill Maher ... Well, Bill Maher does not want to be told what to do ... Whatever it may be, he doesn't want anybody telling him not to. And the people that would do that would be religious people, so he strikes out against them."