A U.S. man who found 300 letters to God floating in the Atlantic Ocean said on Friday he will donate them to a church instead of selling them on eBay following protests from religious people.

The letters, sent to a deceased(1) Baptist(2) clergyman(3), mysteriously wound up(4) in a sealed plastic shopping bag near a beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Bill Lacovara, an insurance adjuster from Ventnor, New Jersey, said he waded out(5) to get the bag while on a fishing trip last week.

The letters were addressed to the Rev.(6) Grady Cooper of Jersey City, New Jersey, who died in 2004. Someone cleaning his house may have discarded(7) the bag, which Lacovara found about 100 miles (160 km) from Cooper's residence.

They include one from a teen-age girl asking God to forgive her for having an abortion(8), one from a prisoner who said he was innocent and wanted to be at home with his family, and one from a man who wanted God's help winning the lottery, according to media reports.

Lacovara said he could have auctioned them off on eBay for up to $15,000 (7,889 pounds) and would have given the money to charity. But he has withdrawn them from the online auction service because he said the move offended some religious people.

"There were a lot of religious fanatics(9) that were very insulted," he told Reuters. "They said they were disappointed in me, and I didn't want to do something that's going to create bad vibes(10)."

Some urged him to burn the letters, throw them back in the ocean or give them to a church, Lacovara said.

Lacovara said about a dozen clergymen have offered to take the letters, and he is evaluating the requests to make sure the letters don't fall into the wrong hands.

一位美国男子在大西洋中捡到300封给上帝的信。本计划在易趣上拍卖这些信件，但由于受到宗教人士的抗议，上周五他宣布会将信捐赠给教堂。

这些信被放在购物袋中，是寄给一个已故浸信会牧师的，竟神奇地出现在新泽西亚特兰大附近的海滩上。

新泽西文特诺保险理算员比尔·拉克维拉说他上周去钓鱼的时候发现了这个袋子。

收信人是新泽西的格莱迪·库珀，已于2004年逝世。可能有人在清理他的房间的时候丢掉了这包信，拉克维拉捡到信的地方距库珀的居住地仅为100英里(160公里)。

据报道称，其中一封信来自一位十几岁的小姑娘，祈求上帝原谅她做了堕胎手术； 一封来自一名囚犯，他说自己是无辜的，希望能和家人在一起；还有一封信请求上帝帮助他赢彩票。

拉克维拉说他本能在易趣上以1万5千美元高价拍卖，然后将所得款捐赠给福利机构。但是他取消了在线拍卖，因为他说这个行为使一些宗教人士十分不满。

他对路透社说：“很多狂热宗教徒感觉受到侮辱。他们说对我感到失望，我不希望这件事情使我们之间产生隔阂。”

拉克维拉说有些人让他烧掉信件，重新扔回大海或者捐赠给教堂。

拉克维拉说大约有十几个牧师请求带走信件，他依然在研究这些请求，以免信件落入“坏人”之手。