Comment: Shalom,     Revelation 22:7  King James Version (KJV)  7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.     Revelation 22:20   King James Version (KJV)   20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.       QUICKLY= GREEK TACHU = SWIFT-QUICK.  Matthew 28:7 […]

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Question: Do we need to keep Sabbath? Which Bible verses supports your answer? Are the Ten Commandments important? Answer: There is no indication in the New Testament that Christians are required to keep some sort of Christian version of the Sabbath. All the evidence from both the scriptures (Acts 20:7 which says that the church […]

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Question: Do you have any references you could pass along that might shed some light on 1 Clement, both in terms of its dating and his possible authorship of Hebrews? I saw a recent question on your site regarding dating 1 Clement to the late 60’s (which makes a lot of sense to me). All […]

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Suggestion: Hi, please do read the doctoral thesis by the late Thomas Herron in which he presents a persuasive argument for re-dating 1 Clement to just before 70 AD. There are of course explosive implications if 1 Clement was pre 70 AD – for example if Clement is quoting at least one of the gospels […]

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Question: In baptism, the church I go to does a good confession by saying “Jesus is Lord” and there are scriptures that supports it like Romans 10:9.  How can we be sure that we are doing it the way the early Christians did?  Did the 3000 baptized in Acts 2 undergo the same practice as we […]

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QUESTION: The Greek translation of the Hebrew OT was called the Septuagint and I’ve read it was used in the early NT church and often quoted by NT writers. I’ve also read that it contained the Apocrypha, which was not accepted into the Hebrew OT canon. Question #1 “Was the Septuagint read in the NT […]

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Question: I’ve really enjoyed reading your book, “The Christian Story” (editor: www.ipibooks.com) and hope to finish it soon. A question came up in our last Bible study that I didn’t remember reading about, so I’m hoping you could answer it for me. Who started the argument that the head of the Church was in Rome and […]

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QUESTION: In Revelation chapters 2 & 3, there are 7 churches mentioned.  Is there any reason why these particular churches were included in the list?   Why only seven?   Are they the only churches that was persecuted by the emperor that time?   Why were the church in Rome or Jerusalem or other churches that we commonly know in New […]

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QUESTION: When I told my friend who is a Hindu that idolatry is wrong, she said that as we Christians take the cross as our representation we take a idol and worship it.  How am I supposed to answer such a question?  Although its not the cross itself that we worship, but it represents faith in […]

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QUESTION: I read this article and wondering is it true??  Here is the link: http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/14893067/early-christians-believed-jesus-wed-harvard-expert/ Answer: The article is “true” in the sense that a fourth century papyrus with seven partial lines of script in the Coptic language was found.  It is also true in the sense that the papyrus manuscript has a phrase “Jesus said […]

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Question: I know Yahoo Answers isn’t a very reliable source, so I am asking you about an answer that was  there. Someone commented on a question that was asked. The question was ” Where were the Gospels written?” One of the answers was “Tons of people compiled, copied and translated and edited the gospels all […]

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Question: Does this not give you something to think about ?  [editor’s note: some personal info about where the questioner got this info and generated the question is left out here] Bruce wrote: “There are texts which may have lacked the Prayer of Forgiveness on the Cross in Luke (so like Luke to invent this in the […]

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Question: I have been wondering about the Anabaptists. To your knowledge, did any of them teach a thorough biblical baptism? Answer: The Anabaptists were a back-to-the Bible offshoot of the Reformation which came from the Ulrich Zwingli wing of the movement. What made them differ from other “Protestants” was that they were committed to separation […]

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Question: Why does the Septuagint Bible consist of additional books (3 Kings, 4 kings, Maccabees,etc.) and psalms (151,152)? From my understanding some of these books and psalms were found in the DSS, so why wasn’t it included in the canon? Answer: The question of what the content of the Septuagint is/was is not an easy […]

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Question: I was hoping you could answer my a question on Isaiah 45:14. It seems to say that Cyrus the Great would gain tribute or conquer Egypt, Cush and the Sabeans (which I believe are Ethiopians). But Cyrus the Great never conquered Egypt. Rather Cyrus’ son Cambyses invaded Egypt and conquered Egypt. He then tried […]

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Question: I come from a VERY Catholic family. This Christmas was naturally a very…interesting time. ANYWAYS, they brought up a statement/question that I felt ill equipped to answer. They made the statement that back in OT days, when Jews made a sacrifice, they would have to partake (i.e. eat) the sacrifice to consummate the covenant. […]

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Question: I recently read a report prepared by an archaeologist from the Israeli Antiquities Authority which stated that Nazareth could not have been occupied during the Herodian Period (the time of the birth of Jesus Christ) because no ruins or other archaeological evidence from that period had been found in or around Nazareth. He did […]

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Question: I have a question regarding the translation of Isaiah 53:8 and whether or not Jesus had children. The only reference that I’ve found to Jesus never having children is in Isaiah 53:8; however the only translation that indicates such is the 1984 NIV, all other translations render it differently making no reference as to […]

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Question: I wanted to ask you a question about several verses in the book of Jude. In Jude 1:14-15 Jude references an apocryphal book called 1 Enoch. I was wondering what you thought about this reference to the book of Enoch. And do you think that this might hint at an apocryphal book as being […]

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Question: You write "All four gospels are quoted in patristic writings (a technical term which means writings by the early church "fathers.") before AD 100 in books such as the Epistle of Barnabus, the book of Clement of Rome and the Didache." There is nothing said about the four Gospels in the "Clement of Rome". […]

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Question: Is it possible that the disciples made up the story of Jesus? I have heard several claims that the disciples could have just invented a Messiah-like figure based the Old Testament prophecies that predict the Messiah. For example the the prophecy on 30 silver coins (which is explained in Zecharia and not in Jeremiah, […]

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Comment: The Historia Augusta is an astonishing piece of bogus history. It is perhaps showing us a Roman sense of humour, but I think scholars are generally unaware of why it was done. There are 130 fake documents and they even invent sources that disagree with them. Sounds a bit like Christianity to me. The Flavians […]

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Question: I want to know why this scholar Sandra, said this in this site: http:/indiagestão.blogspot.com/2009/09/hinduismo-e-cristianismo.html  partir do século II, os lideres cristãos resolveram enterrar a influencia hindu e São Gregorio destruiu publicamente deuses hindus, que passaram a ser considerados então, deuses pagãos.  Lembrando sempre que o Hinduismo possui 7 mil anos e o cristianismo possui somente […]

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Question: My father says he does not believe in organized religion because most churchs seem only to care for themselves and not other people. He also says that the bible is biased because it was written by man and that whomever put the bible together left out some of the texts because they didnt want […]

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Question: Are the 4 Gospels writen by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John historical documents? Can you send historical or any proof of Jesus from the first century when your N.T. claims the miracle worker, crucified and resurrected Jesus was here on earth? Answer: What do we know about Jesus from extra-Biblical sources? Let me list […]

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Question: I am a believer, but have an atheist father who is searching. After a long conversation with him regarding the Bible, he is convinced that the Bible was formed by "church authorities" and is in fact not true writings (based on a TV show he saw). He believes that it was written only to give […]

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Question: My question is on the anointing oil referred to in James 5:14. What do you make of the olive oil the Pentecostals use to anoint different things including buildings? They always quote James 5 to substantiate their claim. Who prepared this oil in James 5 or what is its origin? If there is a […]

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Question:  I have a question regarding something a friend in the Seventh Day Adventist Church said.  Regarding the Sabbath day, you mentioned in a Q & A at this site: "Paul attended Synagogue on the Sabbath at times to preach Jesus, but all the evidence points to the undeniable fact that the church in the first […]

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Question: Is Paul responsible for Christianity? If so, what influence did he have? Did Jesus come to save Jews only? Answer: Obviously, the person who had the most influence on the direction of Christianity was Jesus Christ. One can argue for either Paul or Peter as the two humans who had the greatest influence on […]

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Question/Comment: You say, with regard to the Letters, that "my assumption….  is that these are inspired writings."  I have to point out that whenever God-inspired Scripture is spoken of in the NT, that it is the Jewish Bible that is spoken of.  There is in fact no Biblical warrant for the inspiration of the NT […]

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Question: I’ve recently learned about these so called Deuterocanonical books that are accepted by Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxs, but not by Protestants. I even came across this from an Orthodox Christian (not a friend of his btw) on Facebook who claims that this predicts the coming of the Messiah: "The Book of Wisdom was the […]

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Questions: I have compiled the following article of pure historical events as they relate to the Christian religion. Can you please proof read it and critique it? I believe it to be 100% accurate.  Please let me know.  Answer:   Normally, I do not like to get into one denomination versus another denomination as this is definitely […]

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Question: I read "Daniel, Prophet to the Nations" recently and was quite awestruck by the prophesies!  I’ve been reading online that the Christian persecution under Domitian was historically uncertain and debated. Although the early church fathers routinely mention Domitian, the persecution is seemingly absent from the writings of Tacitus and Suetonius (and other Roman historians).  […]

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Question:   One of the popular evidences for the resurrection of Jesus is the martyrdom of his disciples.  It is claimed that eleven of Jesus’ twelve disciples went to their deaths defending their faith.  It is later concluded that no one would die for something knowing it is a lie. I agree completely.  However, this […]

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Question:  From the Bible’s point of view, what is the meaning of Easter?  Should we celebrate it? Answer:  From the biblical perspective Easter has no meaning.  In other words, the particular celebration on a set day of the year of the resurrection of Jesus is not mentioned or even hinted at in the Bible.  Having said that, […]

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Question:   Who was the 1st person to say that Jesus was God?  I’ve heard a lot of people say that early Christians believed that Jesus was nothing more than a great prophet. Which leads to the question, how do we know that Jesus really is God, and not just a prophet? Answer: That is […]

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Some of my friends say there is evidence that during the reign of Constantine and the meetings at that time, many scholars met and decided which books to put in the Bible and eliminated others that didn’t fit their agenda and they changed the wording of many of the verses and deleted others.  Yet the […]

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Question: I have heard that Christianity has a lot of pagan influence, can you comment on this? Answer: Believe it or not, this is actually a fairly complicated question.  There are several aspects of how to answer the question.  First, how much Pagan influence was there in the original Christianity taught by Jesus and the apostles.  […]

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  Question: When one reads your materials you seem to claim(though not clearly) that the four gospels recorded in the New Testament are the only ever written.  However, nowadays some reseach has proven the existence of other gospels for instance "the Gospel according to JUDEA".  Do you have anything to say about this? Answer: Yes, […]

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Question: Why did Constantine and the Council of Nicaea choose to"edit" The Bible by inserting and removing certain books? What was the real aim of canonization? Answer; This is an easy one!  Constantine did not "edit" or change the New Testament in any way.  Neither did the Council at Nicaea change the New Testament in […]

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