Real Time host Bill Maher clashed with Christian political activist Ralph Reed over the nature of the Christian faith on Friday, saying that a religion based on a text advocating for stoning women who had sex before marriage and for slavery was inherently flawed.
“If the Bible’s a perfect book written by a perfect guy, why is this in there?” Maher asked Reed. “Why did Jesus need to come along to correct his dad? I don’t get it.”
“Because humankind is fallen, and is sinful,” Reed countered. “And we all fall short of the glory of God. Four-hundred years after the Abrahamic covenant, the law was presented.”
“But I’m asking you about the Bible,” Maher said, pressing his point. “People think that the Bible should be literally taken [as] true. And these are the literal words in the Bible from God.”
“But Bill, you’re ignoring the New Testament,” Reed responded. “Not one of those verses occurs in the New Testament. You’re ignoring the new covenant.”
“So the Old Testament — the Jew God — he’s bad,” Maher said.
“I didn’t say that,” Reed answered, laughing. “Bill, Jesus was a Jew.”
June 8, 2014 8:31 AM