Nativity story a legend, says Archbishop

Dr Rowan Williams claimed there was little evidence the Magi existed and nothing to prove there were three of them or they were kings.

He said the only reference to the wise men from the East was in Matthew's gospel and the details were very vague.

Dr Williams said: "Matthew's gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that's all we're really told. It works quite well as legend."

Christmas cards which showed the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus, flanked by shepherds and wise men, were misleading, he said.

Dr Williams concluded that Jesus was probably not born in December. He said: "Christmas was when it was because it fitted well with the winter festival."

However Dr Williams denied that believing in God was equivalent to believing in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy.

"Belief in Santa does not generate a moral code, it does not generate art, it does not generate imagination. Belief in God is a bit bigger than that," the Archbishop said.

His comments came during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live with Simon Mayo. He said he was committed to belief in the Virgin Birth "as part of what I have inherited". But the belief should not be a "hurdle" over which new Christians had to jump before they were accepted.