And now God has gone on record to denounce US preacher, Harold Camping, as "something of a looney" who "got it wrong".

In an exclusive interview with America's televisual channel, CNT, God, who famously does not do interviews, said, "He got it wrong, I don't know what else to say. It's hugely embarrassing for all of us working here at Christianity at the moment, [but Camping] has fouled things up for us and a lot of hard work in the last 2000 years has gone to waste." He also admitted it might be several months before Christianity (Public, NASDAQ:CHRY) would fully recover.

According to God, the start of the Rapture, in which lucky holders of special Golden tickets are selected for salvation from things like hellfire, damnation and interminable repeats of the BBC's 'Last of the Summer Wine', before the Apocalypse and Judgement Day kick in, is a closely guarded secret at 'the Bibleplex' in Vail, Colorado, Christianity's worldwide headquarters since 2002.

Speaking to CNT's Business Reporter, Barbara Piranha, God said that only a handful of people knew the true date of the Rapture.

"Only Myself, my son and the Holy Spirit know the exact date. Not even our CEO, Larry Kinsberger, knows the date," he laughed, although He made it clear that a process was in place to keep the CEO "fully informed" in the months ahead of the Rapture, so he can wind up proceedings.

God went on to reveal that whilst Harold Camping had worked for Christianity for 15 years, he had left the organisation in December, following an altercation in the Bibleplex. Two weeks before Christmas, Christianity's busiest time of the year, it is alleged that Camping stormed into God's office during an important sales meeting, and demanded to know who all 200 million lucky Golden ticket holders were. Security was called to escort Mr Camping off the premises, which they did as Camping repeatedly shouted that God had promised him one of the Golden tickets, according to eyewitnesses - something which God has strongly denied.

God concedes the fact that Camping now bears a grudge against Him and others at Christianity. "I have to strongly consider the possibility that Camping bears a grudge against Me for whatever reason and is, in some way, trying to bring Christianity into disrepute."

This will come as no surprise to observers on Wall Street, where this week Christianity's shares fell more than 14.5%, before rallying at $13.22 a share at the close of business in the US on Friday.

Asked whether he would be seeking damages from Camping, God initially said He "would pursue Camping to the end of the Earth", although he quickly retracted this point, when challenged by Pirelli. He did confirm that Christianity had been in consultation with it legal advisers and files had been passed to the Colorado State Attorney General with a view to prosecution.

Camping, 89 and clearly barking, has since revised his prediction of the beginning of the Rapture. In a statement, he says he is "pretty certain" that the Rapture will now occur on October 21st 2011. Tellingly, he did not conclude the statement with "and may God strike me down if I am wrong."

God also used the occasion to announce his new book, 'Bible 2.0', due for publication later this year. The book, which is the follow-up to the highly successful 'The Bible', will only be available in hard copy and, unusually, will be restricted to a print run of just 200 million copies.