Colbert whips guest into biblical shape: “I *TEACH* Sunday School!”
Don’t talk Bible with Colbert unless you’re ready for a strong shot of “truthiness.”
Colbert, a self-professed Christian, whips up on his guest, Philip Zimbardo, after Zimbardo makes the mistake of saying that Satan was right and God was wrong. Just watch Colbert’s expression in the video below when Zimbardo says that. First, shocked, Colbert quickly jumps into a theological debate and wins, hands down.
Here’s the transcript:
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Colbert: Evil exists because of the disobedience of Satan. God gave Satan, the angels, and man free will. Satan used his free will and abused it by not obeying authority. Hell was created by Satan’s disobedience to God and his purposeful removal from God’s love. Which is what hell is, removing yourself from God’s love. You send yourself ot hell, God does NOT send you to hell.
Zimbardo: Obviously you learned well in Sunday School.
Colbert: I *TEACH* Sunday School, mother*bleep*!
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I love how Colbert left Zimbardo speechless! It was really fun to watch. You should have seen my mom cheering for Colbert. 
And by the way, if you’re interested in the book that stirred up the controversy, you can find out more about it here: http://www.lucifereffect.com/ It certainly sounds like a fascinating read.
And remember… Next time you’re looking for a little theology lesson, just tune into the Colbert Report. 
February 14, 2008 at 3:37 am
Well, it takes time to process info and come up with a response. What Colbert said was obviously known/said by him prior to that meeting, and they ran out of time when Zimbardo was going to respond.
February 14, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I didn’t know he was a Christian. That’s pretty cool!
February 15, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Thanks Adam! And J, I don’t know, Colbert is pretty quick on his feet.
But no, I’m sure you’re right. It’s still really cool though!
February 17, 2008 at 1:24 am
We like him better than his old boss. This guy is much wittier.
February 17, 2008 at 2:16 am
Hey, you can see Phil’s followup on my blog. He said he drew Colbert down that path to make for an entertaining interview so the word of his book would get out.
February 17, 2008 at 6:48 am
ha…I don’t know how much TRUTH there is to that…he’d be a pretty good actor if that was true, he sure looked stumped. But regardless, I’m not sure I’m entirely on board with either argument, to be honest. There’s a lot of “bending” going on in Colbert’s response…I’d like to see scriptue support certain parts of what he said. I think his mouth and his competetiveness sped ahead of his brain. But lastly, the entire thing was a bit torn down by the way he punctuated the end of his response. That was so unnecessary & immature…what the heck was that all about? He’s on the right side, but left me unimpressed.
February 18, 2008 at 5:27 am
Liz – ya, he is *much* funnier than Jon Stewart.
Matt – Thanks for the info! I’ll check it out.
Cindy – Ya, I’m sure a lot of it was acting.
As for the biblical side, the part of Colbert’s response that could be off if taken a certain way is about hell being separation from God (i.e. if people thought that was ALL it was, rather than all the other biblical citations too…) And re: his last comment, I thought it was hilarious! But I can understand your concern. I’ve seen much worse immaturity from other folks, so this I just counted as funny. 