Recently on Fox News TV’s The O’Reilly Factor, host, Bill O’Reilly interviewed God-hating comedian/commentator Bill Maher, and they talked about the Bible. At the beginning of the segment, Bill Maher brought up the account of Noah’s Ark. As you watch the interview, you will see, sadly, that both of these men basically mocked the account of the Ark. As the interview continued, Bill O’Reilly stated the following:
I respect the Bible, and I take it as an allegorical book—But I’m a Christian, so the New Testament is what I believe in.
Well Bill, if you really do believe the New Testament, what do you do with the numerous sections where the writers quote directly from the Old Testament, and particularly the book of Genesis, as literal history? The Apostle Peter in first and second Peter refers to Noah and the global Flood. In Matthew 19, Jesus quotes from Genesis 1 and 2 to build the doctrine of marriage—one man for one woman. In Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Paul quotes from Genesis 1–3 concerning the gospel (Adam, sin, death, and so on). One could go on and on regarding such references.
So Bill, if you claim you do believe the New Testament but the rest of the Bible is allegorical, then you have a major problem—and it shows you really don’t understand the New Testament or know what it does teach.
Bill Maher brings up the point a number of times that if you can’t trust one part of the Bible, how can any of it be trusted? Which is actually an important point—and a point Bill O’Reilly needs to understand but ignored as Maher put it to him more than once in this interview. And this is where Bill Maher and I would actually agree. But of course, Bill Maher claims there are mistakes/problems in the Bible, so you can’t trust any of it—which is where we totally disagree, of course.
As they talk about the origins issue in the interview, Bill Maher also brings up his mantra that comes through the vile, blasphemous Religulous movie when he says, “I don’t know.” Yet Bill Maher, who says he doesn’t know, does “know’” that Christians are wrong! He is so inconsistent—just as he was when in interviewed me in my office a few years ago. This was the time when he illegally entered my office—his video crew lied about its intentions, gave a false name, etc. Read the previous blog post about this Bill Maher break-in to my office.
You can view the Bill O’Reilly/Bill Maher interview on the Fox News website.
After you have watched this video, ask yourself: who is more dangerous from a Christian perspective? My answer would be Bill O’Reilly. This is because he claims to be a Christian but tells people the Bible is allegorical, and you only have to believe the New Testament. Such a belief undermines biblical authority and leads people astray. Bill Maher is an outright God-hater who mocks God’s Word whenever he can, so it is understandable he doesn’t believe the Bible at all. Despite Maher’s various inconsistencies, he is consistent in rejecting all of the Bible. O’Reilly on the other hand is totally inconsistent in what he claims about the Bible.
It is interesting to note that when I appeared on various media outlets when the Creation Museum was opened in 2007 (ABC, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, and so on), the one interview that stood out to me as perhaps the worst was when I was interviewed on Bill O’Reilly’s program. It was not Bill O’Reilly who interviewed me but one of his fill-ins, and the interviewer misunderstood my answer, cut me off, was rude, and basically intolerant. It definitely ranks as the worst interview regarding the opening of the Creation Museum in how I was treated. I know people complained to Bill O’Reilly as many of them sent me copies of their complaint.
Today, I am in upstate New York with Buddy Davis for an AiG conference at the Word of Life conference center, Schroon Lake, New York.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.