A Christian leader has refused to apologise for suggesting that disgraced Jewish Congressman Anthony Weiner could only find redemption through Jesus.

Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was criticised for preaching that Congressman Weiner should embrace Christianity to help cure his problems instead of checking in to a treatment facility.

Mr Weiner hit the headlines last month after he tweeted a lewd photo of himself to a woman he met online. It later emerged that he had been communicating with several other women online and that his wife of less than a year was pregnant.

Mr Mohler claimed: "There is no effective treatment for sin, only atonement found in Jesus Christ."

He added that he had not been critical of Judaism. He said that he was only "stating the Christian doctrine, that every single human being is a sinner in need of the redemption that is only found in Christ".

Mr Mohler is known for his provocative views. He caused a stir in 2003 when he suggest ed that warning non-Christians of the "eternal danger" they faced in not embracing Jesus was the "ultimate act of Christian love."