Brian Cox has insisted the Bible "is one of the worst books ever".

The 77-year-old actor has has insisted religion "holds us back" as humans, and blamed narratives in the Bible for society's patriarchy.

He told 'The Starting Line Podcast': "We do because we have to honor them and we have to give them their place and we’re resistant to that because all our... it’s Adam and Eve, I mean, the propaganda goes right way back - the Bible is one of the worst books ever, for me, from my point of view.

"Because it starts with the idea that Adam's rib - you know that [from] Adam's rib, this woman was created, and they’ll believe it cause they’re stupid enough."

The 'Succession' star argued that religion distracts people from who they truly are.

He argued: "I think religion does hold us back because it's belief systems which are outside ourselves.

"They're not dealing with who we are, we’re dealing with, 'Oh if God says this and God does that', and you go, 'Well what is God?'

"We’ve created that idea of God, and we’ve created it as a control issue, and it’s also a patriarchal issue ... and it’s essentially patriarchal - we haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy."

He pointed to the biological differences between men and women when it comes to their role in parenthood.

He said: "The mothering thing is the thing which is the real conditioning of our lives, our fathers don't condition ourselves because they're too bloody selfish, but our mothers have to, because they have an umbilical - that’s what the umbilical cord is about ...

"Even though it’s cut away, there’s an umbilical relationship to your child, and the women have that, men do not have that, they're just sperm banks."

Although Brian admitted spiritual people do need a guide or some kind, he insisted they shouldn't look to the Bible for an answer.

He added: "They need it, but they don’t need to be told lies, they need some kind of truth, and that is not the truth.

"It is not the truth, it’s a mythology you know ... it’s not really to do with what women understand more than anybody."