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June 6, 2011 · 1:34:04 · 10 min

CNN's "That's not in the Bible" and what goodness means

  • Is Satan mentioned in the Genesis garden account?
  • According to the Bible, does what you do make you good?
  • Is the Bible just a self-help guide for becoming a better person?

The hosts discuss a CNN Belief Blog article titled "Actually, that's not in the Bible" about phrases people mistake for scripture: "God helps those who help themselves," "spare the rod, spoil the child," and the claim that Satan tempted Eve — noting the Genesis account only names a serpent (seg-02417–00451). They push back on the article's scholar, Sidney White Crawford of the University of Nebraska, who defined biblical goodness as "defining one's worth by what one does for others" (seg-02467–00484). The hosts argue goodness belongs to God alone ("you call me good... God alone is good," seg-02499–00501), that the Bible is not a self-help manual, and that recognizing one's need for Christ's death is the stumbling block (seg-02507–00599).

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