The new co-host of "The View," Sherri Shepherd, yesterday insisted Christianity was older than ancient Greece, and even Judaism.

Shepherd - who said earlier this year that she didn't know if the world was flat or round - said during a short-lived discussion of Greek philosophy on yesterday's show that she was pretty sure nothing "predated Christians."

The verbal jousting began when Joy Behar mentioned watching a History Channel show on the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his definition of happiness.

"Keep in mind that probably when [Epicurus] was around, there was no Jesus Christ stuff going on," said co-host Whoopi Goldberg said.

"They still had Christians back then," Shepherd interrupted.

"They had gods," Goldberg said.

"They had Christians," Shepherd insisted. "And they threw 'em to the lions."

"I think this might predate that," Goldberg said.

"I don't think anything predated Christians," Shepherd shot back.

Behar then piped in.

"The Greeks came first, then the Romans, then the Christians," she said.

"Jesus came first, before then," Shepherd said.

"No, not on paper," Goldberg sadly said, meaning the Bible.

Barbara Walters was not there yesterday to see the latest bizarre moment for Shepherd, a 40-year-old comedian and actress who was hired last fall to replace Star Jones on the panel of the morning women's show.

Born in Chicago and raised a Jehovah's Witness, according to reports, she became a born-again Christian after moving to LA.

Last September, after saying she did not believe in evolution, Whoopi asked her rhetorically if also believed the earth was flat.

Taking the question seriously, Shepherd responded: "I don't know."

The following day she said she'd just been flustered by the question and did, indeed, know the earth was round.

Neither the show or Shepherd had any comment yesterday.

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