Dr. John Oakes is excited to announce the publication of his new book, titled True, Right, Better: A Defense of the Christian Worldview.  The book analyzes the various worldviews such as naturalism, postmodernism, pantheism, dualism, polytheism, deism, Islamic theism, Christian theism, existentialism, marxism and more through the lens of three questions.  Is this worldview true–ie […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a six-hour class on the Book of Genesis for campus interns in Merced, CA June, 2022.  The material is here.  Genesis Merced Notes    Genesis Merced PPT    Genesis Merced Audio I    Genesis Merced Audio II    Genesis Merced Audio III  Genesis Merced Audio IV    Genesis Merced Audio […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is giving a lecture 2/12/2022 for the Alpha Omega Christian Club of Bakersfield.  It will be at 7300 Stockdale Hwy at 7:00.  Here are the notes, ppt and, eventually, the audio:    Problem of Pain and Suffering Notes   Problem of Suffering PPT    Pain and Suffering Audio           […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes, along with his very good friends and colleagues, Dan Conder and Kedron Jones are teaching a series of three classes on Sat. 11/7, 11/14 and 11/21 at 9:00 Pacific Standard Time on answering the hard questions.   Here is the link to register for the class:   https://event.webinarjam.com/register/37/8rr9qan5 Topics include Why is there suffering […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes gave a class on Modernism and Postmodernism for the Dacca Church of Christ in Bangaladesh Saturday 10/24/2020.  The class is not necessarily a condemnation of either modernism or postmodernism, but discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both, as well as where they fall short of being helpful to a Christian worldview.  Here […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught a class on Christian theology. The class covered topics such as Trinity, the qualities of God, the problems of evil and suffering, theodicy, predestination, heaven and more.  The class is now completed.  Here are the notes, PPT, audio and link to the video.     God: Christian Theology PPT      God–Christian […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a twelve hour class on Christian evidence specifically for a group of campus ministry interns in Fresno, California July 11-12. Power Point presentations and audio will be uploaded from the class.

Read More

[Editor’s note: When this question came in to the web site, I was absolutely shocked to find that I had never posted an answer to this most basic of questions. So, I am publishing this as an article as well.] Question: While sharing my faith with a person of another religion, he was questioning me […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is teaching in Amman, Jordan, Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt.  We will be posting outlines, ppts and audio of lessons in English, translated into Arabic.     Hard Questions Arabic PPT    Hard Questions Audio   Freedom in Christ Arabic Audio   Existence of God PPT    Existence of God Arabic audio    From God or Man […]

Read More

I will be posting many lessons from my current teaching trip.  All will be in English, but with translation into Russian, Japanese, or Mongolian.  Freedom in Christ Russian     FreedominChrist Russian ppt     Hebrews Russian 1   Hebrews Russian 2   Hebrews Russian 3     Hebrews Russian PPT  Christian World View Russian   Christian World View Russian PPT   From […]

Read More

Dr. Jennifer Konzen just completed a class on Psychological issues and Christianity.  The power point and audio of the class is being made available.  The class outline is below.   Class One PPT History   Class Two PPT Diagnoses     Class Three PPT Depression and Anxiety    PPT class #4 Drugs and Sex    Class Five PPT Therapies   Christian Counselor Audio […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is currently on a teaching trip. Relevant outlines, power points and audio will be posted here.  World View PPT  Christian World View     Messianic Prophecies Study      Hard Questions PPT     Hard Questions Audio        Evidence for Jesus PPT     Evidence for Jesus Study   Evidence for Jesus Audio    God and Science […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes did a teaching weekend 5/5 and 5/6 in Santa Barbara.  Audio for his lesson on God and Science is attached, as well as the power point.  He also did a lesson Acts and Church History.  It was not recorded, but for those who requested, the power point is attached.  There were about […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is delivered a number of lessons on a missionary teaching trip in South Asia Jan 5-22, 2017.  Attached are power points, notes and audio for these lessons.   From Shadow to Reality India Audio    Existence of God Audio    Reliability of the Bible Audio   Marriage Divorce and Remarriage Audio   Marriage and Divorce Notes   Acts […]

Read More

Illumination Publishers just released a new 9-hour CD set.  The class is on Christian Theology.  It is team taught by Dr. John Oakes and Robert Carrillo.  This class provides the basics for understanding who God is, which is, arguably, the most important topic any believer can study.  It is available at www.ipibooks.com

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught on Calvinism–its history, basic theology and reasons to reject its basic tenets–in Manila Jan 23, 2016.  The notes and power point are included.   Answering Calvinism Notes    Answering Calvinism PPT   Due to technical glitches, only part I and part IV are available in high quality Calvinism I Audio     Calvinism IV Audio but the […]

Read More

The Apologetics Research Society, along with the South Florida Church of Christ put on a Christian Evidence weekend in Miami/Dade and Broward County, including at Florida International University Sept. 18-20, 2015.  The audio and some of the power points and outlines are attached.   God is Good: The Problems of Pain, Suffering and Evil PPT    Problem […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes is taught a class on Answering the Hard Questions at the 2015 International Christan Evidence Conference at York College in York, Nebraska, June 19-21.  He gave a brief overview of the Christian world view before launching into the Christian answer  to the questions both believers and non-believers often struggle with, such as […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught a class on Presuppositional Apologetics at the 2015 International Christan Evidence Conference at York College in York, Nebraska, June 19-21.  He gave a brief overview of the types of apologetics, followed by an analysis of the strong and weak points of presuppositional apologetics, followed by a discussion of world view apologetics. […]

Read More

Dr. Richard Knopp from Lincoln Christian University gave the keynote address for the 2015 ICEC at York College, in York, Nebraska.  The presentation was on the history of and advice about the wisest approach to using the concept of world view to both increase the faith of believers and to take faith in Jesus Christ […]

Read More

Dr. John Beggs, physics professor at Indiana University gave an amazing presentation on the the implications of discoveries in neuroscience on the question of human consciousness, free will and the soul.  He gave a detailed picture of what we know about brain function from neuroscience, especially from his own research program.  He explained how the […]

Read More

Editor’s note:  This Q & A was of sufficient interest, that I have decided to post it as an article as well. Question: If evolution and abiogenesis have simply naturalistic explanations behind the origins and development of life itself, then wouldn’t this replace any need for a god? Abiogenesis for example gives forth purely scientific and […]

Read More

Editor’s note:  The following is a series of questions and answers.  The tone is more familiar than usual because this discussion is happening with a good friend. Question: I just read your paper, “A Closer Look at the Laws of Thermodynamics.”  It was great.  Thanks.  I have a comment, though.  From Pr 16:33 we learn that anything that […]

Read More

Question: Have you ever heard of the Doctrine Molinism?   I haven’t studied concerning the process of salvation in awhile. The last place I essentially left off was being convinced of the ideology of this doctrine. And as of now I still hold to Molinism. Thanks much. Answer: I am copying and pasting an article from Google […]

Read More

Question: I read in one of your recent Q & A in which you explained Calvin’s predestination (or was it more accurately Beza’s double predestination) as a false doctrine. In this light, what is your opinion of the most logical relationship between God’s atemporality, foreknowledge, sovereignty, omniscience, and humanity’s free will without infringing upon one […]

Read More

[Editor’s note: This is a series of interchanges which might be a bit hard to follow, but I decided to post this pretty much as is.  It is a series of exchanges on the rather abstract question of where Quantum mechanics interacts with free will.] Question: Dr. Oakes,  I am researching a study for my […]

Read More

Question: I was trying to do some research on the claims that the founding fathers of the United States either believed in God and or were Christians.   I understand that the founding fathers were guided by secular ideas, and self, class, or state interests. Do most scholars believe that the fathers were deists, while other scholars […]

Read More

Question: I was going through a book by Spinoza and he describes a substance as having its characteristic as existence and independence from any other substance. But if that’s the case, then matter has existed ever since and will continue to exist. It cannot be destroyed or created.In this sense isn’t matter self-existent? My physics […]

Read More

Question: I want to ask about a particular apologetics strategy know as Presuppositional Apologetics. What do you think about it?  Do you believe that you presuppose that God exists and that everything the Bible says is true off the bat? Or does it take reasons to reach this conclusion? I recently heard a good explanation […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught a class titled Christianity and Bioethics for the South Florida Church of Christ 8/30/2013.  The class focuses on the moral and ethical questions raised by the leaps in technology in the biomedical field.  He discusses the Christian Worldview and how it can guide us to decide which kinds of technologies Christians […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught a class for the South Florida Church of Christ 8/30/2013 on Christianity and Postmodernism.  In the class Dr. Oakes explains the history of modernism, discussing its strengths and weaknesses.  From there, he explains why modernism led to postmodernism, followed by a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the postmodern mindset. […]

Read More

QUESTION: I have heard several times that moral “law” is said to be observed in animals, suggesting a natural, rather than supernatural explanation for morality. That sentence might not be clear enough, let me elaborate: A good example of a proponent of this is Anthropologist Frans de Waal. de Waal has studied primates for years […]

Read More

QUESTION: A friend of my brother asked me some tough questions. He was born into a Christian family, but couldn’t accept the religion because of his belief about God. The friend wants to believe that there is something/someone out there.  Some points he made were:   God is not:  all-powerful  all-knowing  or all-loving.  He believes that God […]

Read More

IPI published two new products from ARS this week.   The first is the recording of the entire 2013 ICEC in San Diego on Christianity and Culture.  The second is a 12 hour class on World Religions taught by Dr. John Oakes.  To order go to www.ipibooks.com or to this link:     https://www.ipibooks.com/AllProducts/tabid/59/rvdsfcatid/john-oakes-10/Default.aspx#.UdLaDPlQFqV

Read More

QUESTION: Is religion merely a psychological phenomenon, as is commonly pushed by so many atheists? I have heard reports of studies that show there is some kind of “God part” of the brain or some kind of brain part that is sensitive to religious experience. How do we respond? Answer: I am assuming you are […]

Read More

Dr. John Oakes taught a class titled Christianity and Bioethics at the 2013 ICEC at San Diego State University.  The class includes a discussion of the various technologies which we can assume will be coming in the fairly near future.  John proposes the kinds of technologies Christians should embrace and those which they should consider […]

Read More