Conservative commentator and podcaster Ben Shapiro schooled comedian and HBO host Bill Maher after he claimed the Bible is full of “nonsense and wickedness” and not the source of moral truth.
In Maher’s view, Scripture is full of errors — at least as he perceives it — and, as such, must have been concocted by errant human beings rather than having been inspired by God, as it is written in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV):
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Maher, a well-known atheist, went on to say it is a “silly argument” to claim the Bible was inspired by the Lord because, if it truly was “God-breathed,” “how could there be ‘things we don’t agree with’” in it, he asked rhetorically.
“It’s either got to be perfect because it’s written by ‘you know who,’ or it’s just not perfect and it’s written by people, which it was, obviously, and it’s full of nonsense and wickedness and things that are everything but virtuous,” he asserted.
.@billmaher: The Bible is full of nonsense and wickedness.@benshapiro: But you and I agree a lot on morality, right? Because we were born in a society built by the Bible. You can think you formed your own morality, but you were born morally on third base.
*audience erupts* pic.twitter.com/vyQc3vCYkz
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 13, 2025
In response, Shapiro claimed he and Maher likely agree on morality “I’d say like 87%” of the time.
“Morality — but not from the Bible,” Maher retorted, claiming Scripture is “for slavery.”
Shapiro pressed again, “[W]hy do you and I agree on morality, like, 87.5%? I’m a religious Jew, you’re an atheist. Why do we agree on these things?”
The “Real Time with Bill Maher” host appeared to be pondering the question when Shapiro offered to share his explanation for their shared views of right and wrong.
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“We probably grew up a few miles from each other in a western society that has several thousand years of Biblical history behind it,” Shapiro said. “And so you can think that you hit that triple and you formed your own morality, but the reality is you were born, morally, on third base.”
Maher began to respond but was cut off by applause and laughter from the audience.
When he picked back up, Maher claimed Western society and its sense of morality came from the Enlightenment, which he described as anti-religious. He argued the founders of the United States were not “particularly Christ-y,” which prompted Shapiro to point out that Thomas Jefferson compiled a version of the Bible that focused on the moral principles but removed all the miracles.
The HBO host asked Shapiro why society should continue to rely on the Bible. In response, the popular talk show host said, “Cut flowers die,” meaning a culture that severs itself from its roots cannot survive.
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