When Bill O’Reilly brought Candida Moss on his Fox News program Wednesday, the Notre Dame professor had an interesting take on Jesus Christ’s political ideology.
Her take and O'Reilly's response,
Moss: “A rich man is condemned to hell merely for not giving away his possessions. […] Jesus is not a free market capitalist.”
O’Reilly: “I’m telling you, that’s not theologically sound…He didn’t say you’ve gotta sell everything, because then you’re going to hell, I’m going to hell and everyone watching is going to hell! […] You’re taking it literally when these are parables.”
Watch the entertaining debate here:
O’Reilly welcomed Moss on his show to explain an article she penned in The Daily Beast entitled, “The Gospel According to Bill O’Reilly,” in which she criticized the Fox host’s new book Killing Jesus. Moss complains,
“There’s no mention of the free health care offered by Jesus and His followers or the insistence that the wealthy give away their possessions.”
Free health care? Giving away all you’ve worked for? Somehow I don’t think that’s exactly what Jesus had in mind. While the Savior does insist His followers be dependent on Him, He also gave us free will. In that regard, it is up to us to fulfill His promises. In fact, the Bible even commends the principle of hard work. Take Proverbs 10:4, for example, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” When success is earned, even God says there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
This isn’t the first time Moss has used religion to input her two political cents. In an interview with Religion News Service in May about her own book, The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented A Story of Martyrdom, the New Testament professor criticizes some notable Republicans,
Q: Who is capitalizing on the myth of Christian persecution?
A: When people talk about being persecuted in modern America, I think it’s dangerous. I’m talking about everyone from Rick Santorum to Mitt Romney to Catholic bishops, and Bill O’Reilly talking about a war on Easter. The problem with this is that it destroys dialogue. Persecutors don’t have legitimate complaints so you can’t really have productive discussions.
Moss goes on to claim she is critical of the political left as well, but the evidence is lacking.
The Notre Dame professor is deceiving herself by refusing to acknowledge Christians have received a bad rap in modern culture. Often having to deal with accusations of “bigotry,” Christians have endured animosity nearly everywhere they've tried to share the Gospel. Nevertheless, Moss is so sure of herself she wrote an entire book claiming the opposite.
As for her take on Jesus’s ideology, Moss may not admit it, but her stubborn display on The O’Reilly Factor, more than suggests she has a political agenda.
She did come up with some great arguments though,
“I did not say Jesus was a socialist – I retweeted someone and agreed.”
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