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      RIO DE JANEIRO (CWNews.com) - Two Brazilian bishops have sharply criticized a book which was published under the auspices of that country's episcopal conference, arguing that it calls into question the historical truth of the Gospels.

      Bishop Manuel Pestana Filho of Anapolis has announced that he would not allow the use of the book "He Is Amongst Us" -- a publication of the Brazilian bishops' conference -- in his diocese in southwestern Brazil. Bishop Filho's criticisms of the book are similar to complaints already lodged by Bishop Cristiano Krapf of Jequie.

      The controversial book, a commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, is "marked by liberal Protestant exegesis," Bishop Krapf had said during a recent meeting of the Brazilian bishops' conference. He said that the work questions -- if it does not directly deny -- the historical accuracy of the Gospel accounts. Although he conceded that the book did not contain any direct contradiction of defined Church teachings, he added, "the whole book seems to me to undermine the divine authority of the Gospel."

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