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Author "john-oakes"

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

Question: How would you respond to people who say that evolutive processes ( like the creation of stars and animal evolution) need no God, and therefore who reject the idea of God on that basis? Answer: I believe that the processes of star-formation and animal evolution are natural processes which proceed according to the natural […]

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

Question: 1. Which do you prefer: the kaalam cosmological argument or the original cosmological argument of Thomas Aquinas? 2. How can one refute the idea of an eternal universe? Answer: That is an easy question.  The kaalam cosmological argument is definitely the superior one.  That is why it was proposed in the first place.  Here […]

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

Question: 1. Why do some people say the earth was created 6000 years ago? (since the bible does not mention this at all)  2. Why do you think God loves us so much?  3. Is your website Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, or a different type of Christianity? Answer: The reason that some Christians claim that the […]

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

Question: What are some good arguments to support this statement: Evolution needs to have an intelligent creator so it can work? Answer: Normally I write out answers to all questions, but in this case I am going to do something different.  I am going to give you a list of resources you can use to […]

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

Question: What are your thoughts on the theorem of an eternal universe because of the quantum world? Answer: To tell you the truth, I have never seen quantum theory used to defend belief in an eternal universe.  The steady-state theory, also known as the theory of continuous creation, was formerly defended by a minority of […]

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

Question: Do you think God made the sun by himself, or do you think used physical laws as a plan so the sun could be created from the elements?  Also, should we find a scientific explanation of what we read in Genesis or we should just interpret it as something merely poetic and not literal? […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: Many say that in the age of science it’s absurd to say that Bible is reliable when it says that the Creation took 6 days to complete and God created man when evolution is proven. How do I answer them? I’m not a science student but how can we answer such questions? Answer: I […]

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

Questions: Did Moses copy the Old Testament from another book or source?   If the last statement is true then would that mean that the only reliable thing in the Bible are in the New Testament? Answer: First of all, Moses was only responsible for a limited portion of the Old Testament.  Almost certainly he did […]

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

Question:  I have three questions.   1. The New Testament says that non believing Jewish leaders were accused of handing Jesus over to be killed by the Romans. The first century Jews did not deny this historical fact, as they knew that they played a role in killing Jesus by handing him to the Romans soldiers. […]

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

Question: Did Moses copy the Old Testament from another book or source?   If the last statement is true then is the only reliable part of the Bible the New Testament? Answer: First of all, Moses was only responsible for a limited portion of the Old Testament.  Almost certainly he did not write Genesis.  There is […]

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

Question: How do you thing the gospel writer Matthew could have gotten information about Pontius Pilate wife’s dream regarding Jesus in his Gospel?  What kind of person do you think Pilate was?  For this question please see these two links:   [Editor’s note: these are two articles in which Bart Ehrman argues against the reliability of […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Dr. William Lane Craig and others have pointed out that first century Jews were not waiting for humble Messiah who will suffer, let alone will rise from the dead. They waited for king who would free them from the Romans. But I found information in a video about Dr. Knohl who decoded an inscription […]

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

Question: How would you respond to someone who says the universe is self-thinking and conscious? How would this work in terms of the universe creating itself and also fine tuning? Would that prove pantheism? Answer; As you appear to recognize, you are describing a view of the cosmos known as pantheism.  This is a theology […]

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

[Editor’s note: An excerpt from the article this question refers to, as well as a link to the article are found after my response to her question. It would be a good idea to look at the link in order to understand the issue being raised] Question: What do you make of this article that […]

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

Question: 1. What would you say to a person that claims this: Before the universe there was a quantum vaccuum that created the universe?  2. Does god know all the future events that may or may NOT happen? Answer; On the first question, if anyone says this then I assume that they do not know […]

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

Question: I read recently that Elon Musk said that religion and/or spirituality, has no place in science. What are your thoughts on this? Answer: Believe it or not, I agree that Elon Musk is correct on this question.  Religion involves things like the supernatural, ultimate purpose, meaning, faith.  Science involves things that can be measured […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching .

Dr. John Oakes did an exegesis assignment for his masters degree program.  The assignment is posted here.    Exegesis Hosea 11.1 – 12.6      Here is a lesson from the same passage given for a singles devotional.  Hosea 11:1-12:6 Notes    Hosea 11:1-12:6 Audio                     […]

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

Question: Since the Bible and we as Christians think that God made nature perfect with only 2 sexes, what do you think about the following questions?  1. How do we answer and how do we act toward with hostile feminists and lgbt supporters?  2. Is interex the 3rd sex? Answer: First of all, we need […]

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

Question: Does science know what happens when you die? Do we have any evidence for our soul/spirit? Answer: On the first question, it depends on what you mean. Science can answer physical questions about physical, measurable things. Science can tell us that, when we die, our bodies begin an immediate process of decay back to […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A .

Question: Hi,  I was just reading your article from May of 2005 about how scholars date ancient manuscripts and I had a question. In the article, you lay out the different methods of determining the dates, like styles of script or types of paper. My question is, how did historians determine when each style was […]

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

[Editor’s note: This is a long question with an even longer answer.  The questioner makes some rather personal comments, so my response is more personal that I normally would use.  Feel free to give me feedback.  J. O.] Question: Bart Ehrman claims the Bible was changed and is unreliable in his book “Misquoting Jesus–The Story […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching .

Dr. John Oakes is giving a series of lessons for the Lifeway Church of Christ (part of the Los Angeles Church of Christ) on two successive Wednesdays 12/2 and 12/9 on being In Christ.  These lessons come from a book titled In Christ (www.ipibooks.com) Notes, power point and audio are available here:  In-Christ Notes    […]

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

Question:  In your opinion which is better, theistic evolution, natural evolution or evolutionary creation? Answer: I see no measurable difference between natural evolution and evolutionary creation.  One is an essentially atheist view, while the other comes from believers, but as far as science is concerned, they cannot be distinguished.  Both propose that all living things […]

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

[Editor’s note: There are several questions here.  Answers are interspersed in italics] I am struggling with questions! I have so many and need to discuss with someone. 1) There is nothing that exists that was not created by GOD, so why make wickedness/evil to begin with? I am currently teaching a class in which I […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This question is a follow-up from the class Answering the Hard Questions which we have been teaching the past three weeks.] Question: Hi guys! Thanks for the great apologetics series!  I left last session with two questions. One is regarding the use of the “copying error” as a tool for explaining discrepancies between texts. […]

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

Question: 1. If humans created clones, would it be a sin to kill one of them? Would they have a soul? 2. If we have a lot of evidence of God, and a lot of fossil evidence of evolution, why do some people say one has to be true and the other one has to […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: The one asking is Russian, which will explain some of the awkward wording below. The intent of the question is fairly clear] Question: We have a question from our readers. Can help us to answer, please?  I’m interested in a question about profanity. I have been made to understand that the word means […]

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wrote in Uncategorized .

Question: If Jesus of Nazareth indeed did miracles, healed the sick and raised many dead people, was crucified and was resurrected, then why don’t we have documents by non-Christian authors (Romans or Greeks or others) within His lifetime or within the first century.  Many prominent leaders, kings, historians will surely have heard about such unique […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Q & A .

Question: “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”  Matthew 16:28 NIV. What did Jesus mean here? Is he referring to his second coming? Answer: In Matthew 16:28 appears at first glance to be a reference to the second […]

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wrote in Apologetics, Articles, Philosophy, PowerPoints, The Existence of God, Theology, World View .

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 […]

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

Questions: I have two questions about the evolution theory and Christianity.  1. Where do Adam and Eve fit in evolution?  2. Is it okay for a Christian to think evolution is correct (because I think it is but some priests tell me that its wrong)? Thanks. Greg: There are two legitimate possible Christian views on […]

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

Question: Hi all at EFC, I was wondering, how do I help someone who asks “If God truly wants a relationship with me, why doesn’t he give evidence that he knows that I would have to believe in him.” Thanks. Answer: God provides us great mountains of evidence for his existence, and also that the […]

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

Question: Help me!    Mythicists insist that Josephus’ account of Jesus of Nazareth in BK XVIII of his *antiquities* is a wholesale forgery.   They also insist that the passage about “James the brother of Jesus who was called Messiah” is not, in fact, about Jesus of Nazareth but “Jesus, son of Damneus”   They also insist […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: This question was sent to me (John Oakes) and to my friend Douglas Jacoby. You will see both of our responses below, with Doug’s first.  It is posted both at my site and at Doug’s www.douglasjacoby.com] Question: Douglas and John, would you please address the issue of Christians smoking mushrooms, especially for healing, […]

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

Question: Hey all at EFC, how would you respond to this quote from Robert Ingersoll in 1885: “We now know that the Hebrews were never enslaved by the Egyptians, that the entire story (Exodus) is a fiction. We know this because there cannot be found in the Egyptian language one word of Hebrew origin and […]

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

Question: There are some people influenced by NT Wright, and some are even Christians, who have doubt whether Paul was a genuine Christian.  It is said that one must study the second temple period of Jewish history if we want an unfiltered understanding of the first-century church and all things about Paul.  More so, it […]

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

Question: Bible critics and atheists say that none of the nine non-Christian writers like Thallus, Josephus, Tacitus and others actually wrote about Jesus of Nazareth of the Bible in their documents.  They say those documents were all fabrications by a Christian.  Your response? Response: This is quite simply a lie, and ought to be labeled […]

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

Question: Is there any extra-biblical evidence for the triumphal entry? Answer: No.  There is no mention of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  The non-believers who mentioned Jesus and Christians only mentioned the most general facts, such as their devotion to Christ, the death of Jesus, the fact that people believed in his resurrection […]

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