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Author "john-oakes"

wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Q & A, Science and the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question:  I wish to bring up some issues regarding neuroscience. I was watching something on television about a man who suffered very serious brain injury. He survived, but his personality and behavior were completely different. Even his friends and loved ones said he was a totally different person. Does this prove that behavior really is […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Recently an unbeliever raised an objection against the reliability of the biblical accounts, he said that the account of Moses in which he was placed in a basket on the river by his mother had been a copy of the biography of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian monarch around 2400 BC. The account of […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching .

Dr, John Oakes has a new book, just published by Illumination Publishers.  The title is Speaking of God. It is now available at https://www.ipibooks.com/collections/all/products/speaking-of-god The book is a how-to on leading group Bible studies, as well as seventy ready-to-go group Bible study outlines.  It is available today.  Tell a friend.

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: How do you view Isaiah 19:18-24?  It seems that the prophecy has not been accomplished yet from my understanding of the scripture. I’ve seen some commentaries claiming that Assyria and Egypt unification is more related to Christianity and that the Coptic and Syriac churches united as one in fellowship with our Lord. Could there […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question:  What are your thoughts on the Passion Translation of the Bible, accuracy, etc.? I was reading some information online and unsure about sources. Answer: The Passion Translation is not really a translation, at least not in the classic sense.  It is more of an interpretation.  It is not done by a university-trained biblical scholar.  […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching .

John Oakes is now preaching regularly for the Bakersfield Church of Christ. We will be posting all of his sermons here.  Services are now live streamed Sundays at 1:00 at  www.bakersfieldchurchofchrist.com. 9/19  Revelation II Notes Letters to Churches  Revelation II PPT  Rev II Letters to Churches Audio 9/16  First Principles The Cross Study PPT  Cross […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Questions: The NT authors manufactured prophecies about Jesus by twisting OT passages out of context to make them say things the original authors never intended. For e.g. (1) The murder of children by King Herod was not prophesied in Jeremiah 31:15 because Jeremiah was describing the deportation of Israelites from Ramah a century before his […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: If the Law (Heb. Torah) was abolished or nailed to cross then why in the New Covenant does God put His Torah within us and write it upon our hearts? Answer: I assume you are referring to Colossians 2:13-14.  “He forgave our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: What is the book of Ecclesiastes all about? I read it once- it seems pessimistic and hopeless- though the last of  the12th chapter is a bit okay. There it’s written nothing makes sense- life is all about eating and drinking and everything is nonsense and meaningless. The message of Ecclesiastes seems utterly different from […]

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wrote in Uncategorized .

Question: Jesus will NOT be man of peace when he will come again according to Bible. For example Jesus will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:8), Jesus will fight a battle against God’s  enemies (Zechariah 14). Christians should not blame Muhammad when their Messiah will […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

[Editor’s Note: Ravi Zacharias is a well-known apologist who died recently. After his death it was revealed that he had inappropriate sexual behavior. This is not just a rumor and it has been an embarrassment to Christians, which prompts this question] Question: If Jesus couldn’t prevent Ravi Zecharias from sexual misconduct, how shall he save […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In the Bhagavad Gita there is the story about Putana being sent to kill Krishna, which seems very similar to the story of King Harold of the Bible being sent to kill Jesus. Could the Bible have derived this story from Bhagavad Gita, or the other way around? You also have mentioned that Bhagavad […]

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wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

[Editor’s note: By coincidence, two questions about consciousness arrived on the same day.  I am including both Q & As below] Question: Is consciousness immaterial? Answer: Yes, consciousness is immaterial.  How could self-awareness be a physical thing?  It is a sort of epiphenomenon.  There may be brain activities associated with consciousness, but it is hard […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This question is part of a series which are a believer passing along criticisms of Christianity from his Muslim friend] Question: My Muslim friend replied to me about your points that:  1) If presumably Daniel or Ezekiel talked about an earlier event, it doesn’t mean that whole book is reliable. Unless scrolls of […]

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wrote in Apologetics, Articles, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Pain and Suffering, Theology, Uncategorized .

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a series of classes for the Sacramento Metro Church of Christ 7/9-11/21.  Notes, power points and audio are here:  Problem of Suffering PPT    Pain and Suffering Audio    Problem of Pain Notes    Hebrews Audio I    Hebrews Audio II      Hebrews Notes    Hebrews Living by Faith […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Is the doctrine of once saved, forever saved true?  Are those who “fall away” not the true disciples from the beginning? Answer: Once saved, always saved, also known as “perseverance of the saints,” is a false doctrine that was created in the sixteenth century by the likes of Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin and […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Muslims says:  Quran was written down in its entirety at the time of Muhammad’s death and the Sira (prophetic biography) of Muhammad lists the names of 17 scribes of the Quran.  By distinction, the prophetic books of OT were posthumous writings and scribes are not even named. What happened to prophetic scrolls during Exile? […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching, PowerPoints .

Dr. John Oakes gave a number of sermons on the Book of Isaiah for the Bakersfield Church of Christ.  I am attaching the combined powerpoint and combined notes for the eight sermons, as well as the audio.  Isaiah Sermons combined Notes    Isaiah Sermons Combined PPT    Isaiah Sermon I Audio    Isaiah Sermon II […]

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wrote in General, Q & A .

Question: Muslims say the Bible cannot be God’s word because it contains many cheap things unlike Qur’an for e.g.   (1) God ordered Isaiah to be naked (Isa. 20:2)  (2) The language of sexually morbid man used in Ezekiel 16 & 23 where it talks about large genitals, breast fondling of women and emission of men. Do […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: My Muslim friend says:  There were a number of oracles delivered by recognized prophets which did not come true. For example, Ezekiel predicted the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 26:7-14), but he himself later acknowledges that the king’s siege of the city was UNSUCCESSFUL (Ezek. 29:17-20). Both Haggai’s (2:21-23) & Zechariah’s (4:6-7) glorious […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question:  The writings of several prophets were destroyed by the ruling class of the Jews. According to Justin Martyr, the Jews have omitted sayings by Jeremiah and Ezra, as well as the words “from the wood” after “The Lord reigns” in Psalm 95(96):10 (Dialogue with Trypho, 71-73). It means Jews were NOT honest keepers of […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching, Church History, PowerPoints, Prophecy .

Dr. John Oakes is doing a four-part series on the Book of Revelation in Spanish for Iglesia de Cristo de Guadelajara.  Power point and autio are being posted here   Apocalypsis ESPAÑOL PPT   Apocalypsis Guadalajara Audio 1    Apocalypsis Guad II    Apocalypsis III Dr. John Oakes is doing a six-part series of classes on […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: In scriptures such as Leviticus 18:21, 2 Kings 23:10, and Jerimiah 32:35, the Bible seems to make it very clear that child sacrifice is evil, and not acceptable. However, In In Judges 11:34 – 40 it seems as though God is accepting the taking of a child as a sacrifice in exchange for allowing […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Questions: 1. Where does the idea that God created natural laws so these could act (such as evolution) come from? Is it reasonable?   2. What are your thoughts on Christian websites which deny evolution, and even the existence of dinosaurs?   3. As a scientist can you please give me your opinion on this article of […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

[Editor’s note: We do not normally copy and paste Q & A’s from other websites, but I appreciate Hugh Ross’ courage to put forth actual dates sufficiently to publish this from the website https://reasons.org/explore/publications/questions-from-social-media/what-are-the-scientific-dates-for-the-starts-and-ends-of-the-six-creation-days  Like Hugh Ross, I am a day/age creationist] Question of the week: What are the scientific dates for start and end times […]

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wrote in Creation, General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Science and the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: 1. Which is the best atheist argument?  2. Can science disprove or prove the existence of god?  3. What do you think about this video on free will debunked? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpU_e3jh_FY  You don’t have free will, but don’t worry. In this video I explain why free will is incompatible with the currently known laws […]

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wrote in General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Philo (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE) did not mention the crucifixion of Jesus or the 3 hours’ darkness although he was contemporary of Jesus. Christians present Josephus and Tacitus as Non-Christian proof of Crucifixion but they wrote long after Jesus. What’s your response? Answer: We have no idea of whether Philo ever mentioned […]

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wrote in General, Miracles, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: A Muslim started to debate with me about evidences of Islam, and he immediately shared a link which shows 19 convincing proofs of splitting of moon by Muhammad (a supposed miracle of Muhammad). Actually I almost lost my Christian Faith after reading the website he provided–it really contains shocking empirical evidences of splitting of […]

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wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: What is the best evidence for mind/body dualism? Where can I find such evidence? Answer: The “mind” is a metaphysical idea, which I am convinced does have a physical component in the brain.  When we think or when we decide, neurons fire and neurochemicals are released in the brain.   However, “mind” is not a […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: I have a question about Surah 41:11-12.  It says the nearest heaven was made for protection.  Does that mean the Qur’an is describing the earth’s atmosphere/ozone layer protecting it? Is it a scientific fact? Answer: It sounds like you have been looking at the web site of a Muslim apologist.  What we need to […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: The following link I have sent you is to a discussion I found online about some interesting theories on consciousness and free will.  The article in question notes that it is quite possible that matter and even the universe itself may actually be conscious, as some scientists now believe. It is claimed that consciousness […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is there evidence that Old testament prophecies like those in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Nahum, Jeremiah etc. were made prior to the events they prophesied? Answer: Yes, of course.  Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament certainly were fulfilled after the prophecies were written down.  However, there are also Old Testament prophecies–especially in Jeremiah and […]

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wrote in Church History, General, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I understand that Catholics came into existence first and then later the Protestants. The Catholic’s Bible has additional material such as extra chapters of Esther and extra books like 1 Maccabees, unlike the Protestant Bible with 66 books. This causes me to think that Protestants removed the additional books and chapters from the Bible […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: How do we know that Mathew Mark Luke and John were actually written by the people whose names they were accredited to? I will grant that it was probably at least written by a member of the church because it was widely accepted as the holy word of God by the early church who […]

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wrote in Audio, Bible Teaching .

Dr. John Oakes is giving a series of classes on the Book of Romans for the Bakersfield Church of Christ campus ministry March – May, 2021. Romans Audio I    Romans 9 God’s Sovereignty    Romans Audio II    Romans Audio III    Romans Audio IV    Romans PPT    Romans Notes    Romans V...

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wrote in Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible, Uncategorized .

Question: What are your thoughts on irreducible complexity? I read your essay on the four kinds of theistic explanations of creation a while ago and I remember you writing that you do not side with Intelligent Design and that irreducible complexity is an ID teaching. I’m currently reading your book “Is There A God?” and […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Questions: I have three questions concerning me a little bit.   1. My atheist friend says that random things can make something really complex, like random mutations in evoltuion.   2. He also says that humans create better things than God, for example the wild old bananas compared with the genetically modified ones.   3. What do you […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Miracles, Q & A .

Question: Is there any credible evidence for the supernatural (miracles, immaterial conscience, life after death, demon possession, etc.) ? Answer: Yes, there is.  Quite a bit, actually.  The evidence for Jesus of Nazareth’s resurrection is very strong. There is the fact of his execution by crucifixion, the fact of his empty tomb and the fact […]

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wrote in General, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Comments: Can you show the continuity of the chain of transmission of So-called Gospels?  These were not revealed by God but promote a pagan concept of God/Son or Man-God which was in fashion during times of Jesus.  You will know after your death that what have you done to yourself.  Good Luck! For your kind information, […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s Note: This is a series of several questions from a Muslim who has criticism of the Bible.  Q & As are interspersed] Question: If you read Quran, you will observe that God is addressed as God for All Universe but in case of Bible, God is just a Tribal God addressed as “God of […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: People usually accuse religions, including Christianity, of having a black and white view on sin. They are very direct like “you shall do this and you shall not do this” without considering the nuances. If God wrote his law in our hearts (conscience), then shouldn’t everyone or at least most people understand how homosexuality […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: If you read the Quran, you will observe that God is addressed as God for all the universe but in case of Bible, God is just a tribal God addressed as “God of Israel”. Moreover, the Quran says: We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods.” but […]

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