Question: Recently I got a question asked by a Muslim about the Bible and Jesus. It is this: The Bible says that anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse (Deuteronomy 21:23). Using this verse they ask that if Jesus is the true Messiah by being crucified is he not cursed and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dr. John Oakes is giving a lesson on the Christian and other worldviews for a campus conference this coming weekend Oct 24/25. The audio (but not the video) as well as the power point are available here. Christian Worldview PPT World View Audio […]
[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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Question: When did the ice age occur in the Bible? Answer: The ice age is not mentioned in the Bible. Neither are dinosaurs, mass extinction events, saber-toothed tigers, Chinese people, the existence of microbes, the content of the atmosphere, the existence of planets, or any of millions of things that are not relevant to the […]
Question: If everything comes from God, doesn’t that mean that evil comes from God as well? Thanks Answer: Yes and no, but more no than yes. Let me explain. God created everything, and it was all good. In fact, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). At creation, everything God made was good and there was […]
Question: I have a question. In 2 Kings 1:1-18, at the end of vs 18 it says “The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel” My question is this: what is the book of annals of the Kings of Israel? Is it the same as the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings? […]
Question: Since the 360 day Hebrew calendar should be used when calculating the 70 weeks, if we calculated from 457 BC we would end up in 18 AD before the ministry of Christ. How can this be explained? David: According to whose authority must the 360 day Hebrew lunar year be used to make this […]
Question: In John 9:39 Jesus says, “For judgment I came into this world.” But then in John 12:47-48 Jesus says “I did not come to judge the world but to save it.” Are these not a contradiction and how do we resolve this? Answer: A great question. I had never noticed this potential contradiction. When […]
Questions: I have 3 questions to ask you. Why did God not do anything when Abraham has a concubine and when Solomon had multiple concubines? What did Jesus mean when he said that if your eye causes to see a women lustfully pluck it out and when a hand causes you to sin cut it […]
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 10:30 at www.bakersfieldchurchofchrist.com See you there. 10/18 Luke VIII Jesus and Samaritans Luke VIII PPT Luke VIII Samaritans 10/11 Luke VII The Lost Son Luke […]
Question: What do you think about people that criticise christianity, because they reject the idea of using a condom. Thanks Answer: The Bible does not address the topic of birth control. Birth control techniques on the ancient world were primarily through abortion–either by the taking of poisonous herbs in non-fatal dosages, or by surgical killing […]
[Editor’s note: this question is an “insider” question from someone in the churches of Christ. For those who are not part of this fellowship, please understand and perhaps excuse that I am publishing a question that you may not be able to relate to.] Question: I am a college student and a part of the […]
Question: Does our Eurocentrism harm the way we live in the church? Some say that our Eurocentric or Western perspectives hinder our reading of religions. Therefore, we cannot talk about the inferiority of other religions as this would be Eurocentric. Answer: I am guessing that you have read an article which claims that Eurocentrism is […]
Question: Why do you think God allows natural disasters? Also, why do people not believe in God, although its clear that he exists? Thanks. Answer: This is a common question. The atheist asks the Christian believer why God, if he is so loving and so powerful, does not prevent natural disasters. Actually, I assume that […]
Dr. John Oakes gave a podcast on the Book of Hebrews, sponsored by Illumination Publishers (www.ipibooks.com), on four successive Mondays. Here are the power point and notes for the class: Hebrews PPT Hebrews Notes The audio for class #2,3 are here: Hebrews Webinar II Audio Hebrews Webinar III Audio Hebrewd IV Audio Here are the […]
Dr. John Oakes will be teaching a five-week class on the post-exile Old Testament books, including Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Esther, Nehemiah and Ezra. The theme of these books is God restoring his people to a relationship with him. There is much about the Kingdom of God here. The classes will be on five consecutive Saturdays […]
Question: Do coincidences happen? Or does God cause them? Thanks Answer: This is a fun question to think about. I am sure many believers have asked themselves this intriguing question. My answer is yes, of course coincidences happen. For example, when someone wins the super lottery, it is a fantastic coincidence that they happened to […]
Question: What would you answer to someone that asks you: what if universes are the only thing that doesn’t need a Creator? I hope you can answer me, thanks Answer: The Bible says in Proverbs 26:5, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” So, I will […]
Question: What would you answer to someone that tells you that people believe in God because they are afraid of death? I hope you can answer me. Answer: I am sure that there are some people who believe in God, at least in part, out of fear of death. That is not why I believe […]
Questions: I listened to all the 1 hour lectures you gave at a university recently. The evidence about the life of Christ, and lack of info about other claimed messiah types like Zoroaster was very helpful. I’m definitely struggling with your views on a approx 14 million yrs old earth ( I’m not sure that […]
Question: Is it true that Christianity endorsed Hermeticism at the beginning? Answer; I am going to guess that you saw someone somewhere claim that Christianity borrowed its belief system in part from Hermeticism. The simple answer to your question is a hard no. No, Christianity never has endorsed Hermeticism and especially primitive Christianity certainly did […]
Question: Please respond to this article: https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/jesus-body/ Is it true that Jesus’ resurrected body was a spiritual one only according to 1 Peter 3:18, and that we too will have spirit, not physical bodies in heaven? Answer: First of all, you will do well to not listen to Jehovah Witnesses, both in person and […]
Dr. John Oakes is teaching a four-part class on the Book of Galatians for the Bakersfield Church of Christ. The class is focusing on Paul’s teaching that salvation is based on what Christ did on the cross, that salvation is by faith and that life in Christ is based on the work of the Holy […]
Dr. John Oakes gave a series of lessons for the Spokane Christian Church 8/23/2020. The lessons were intended to increase the faith, both of members and visitors. One lesson is From Shadow to Reality–a lesson about finding Jesus in the Old Testament. Shadow to Reality Notes Shadow to Reality PPT Next was a lesson on […]
Question: I read a passage in the Bible where it said that there was a blackness and an earthquake after Jesus died. [Editor’s note: Luke 23:44 for the darkness, Matthew 27:51 for the earthquake] Is there historical evidence of people seeing this? Answer: Many people fail to recognize that we have very little information about […]
Question: I have a question about the Temple mentioned in Ezekiel Ch 40-48. It says that there will be sin sacrifices, but how can that be so if Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice? I know that there are both literal and figurative interpretations, but everything I have seen has favored the literal view of these […]
Question: Why was The book of Enoch taken out of the Old Testament and why has this book been forgotten since New Testament times? Answer: The answer is that the Book of Enoch, also known as 1st Enoch, certainly has not been lost, and neither has it been forgotten. It was not taken out of […]
Question: How should I respond to Dr. Kauffman’s clever and humorous attack on Dr. Laura when she says that, as a Jew, homosexual behavior is blasphemy to God? [Editor’s note: Kauffman’s criticism is contained in the response] Response: I will have to say that I agree that this letter is clever, but I am not […]
Question: What is the name of God according to Exodus 6:2-3 based on the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint? [Editor’s note: this is the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the late third century BC] Answer: God has many names in the Bible, as I assume you know. He is called El, […]
Question: What did Jesus mean he said “I am the resurrection and life and those who believe in will live and those who live and believe in me will never die? The fact is that those who believe in him are still dying. So, what did Jesus mean? When he said that those who follow […]
Question: I want to know about the reliability of the Bible because many of my friends who are Muslims tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross nor was he risen. They tell me that this is not written 600 yrs later but from 2nd century or the end of 1st century itself […]
Question: What is the difference between a cult and a religion? (Simple question, I know, but this is a topic commonly brought up by atheists and I was just wondering what the real answer is). Answer: The word cult is one of the more “loaded” words in the English language. The connotations in today’s common […]
Questions: We know that the Bible prohibits idolatry. If Catholics were the first denomination of Christians, why then do they do everything contradictory to the Bible? Can we trust the additional books of OT in the Catholic Bible? Why did Protestants came years later after Catholics? It seems to me that they should have come […]
Dr. John Oakes gave a class on the Stone/Campbell movement for the Rocky Mountain School of Ministry. The SC movement is also known as the Restoration Movement, which is the historical root of the Churches of Christ, the Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ. Notes, PPT and audio are attached. Unfortunately, the first twelve […]
Question: I have a question. Muslims always say that Bible corrupted, but there is no evidence for it, in fact there is evidence for reliability of the Gospels. Now in gospel of John we can see how Jesus made claims about His divine nature, but is the Gospel of John reliable, since it latest of […]
Question: In a recent debate Muslim imam Shabir Ally tells us that John’s gospel is contradictory to synoptics because in John Jesus said to the people who arrested him I am he without forcing his arrest but in synoptics it’s different. In John, Jesus carries his cross, indicating that he was strong, but in the […]
Question: My question is this. I have been seeing claims, specifically by atheists and Muslims, that the Christianity that exists today is Pauline. Paul interpolated on everything that Jesus taught, contradicted Jesus’ teachings on the law, and changed the gospel. Their ultimate point is, the critics, that the Christianity we have now is from Paul, […]
Questions: I’m not being able to protect my faith because of Muslims and they are telling that the Bible I hold in my hand is corrupted and the original manuscripts are lost. They showed me the video of a debate of Micheal licona a Christian apologist and Shabir Ally who is a Muslim apologist. They […]
Question: Can I be saved just by choosing Jesus as my savior, asking for forgiveness and repenting of my sins? Answer: The best thing I can do for you is point you to the first gospel sermon ever preached. Surely the means of salvation was clearly laid out in this essential sermon. After preaching about […]
Question: I have a question concerning the kings of Syria as mentioned in Isaiah 7:1, it identifies the kings Uzziah, Pekah,and Rezin. Do we have evidence for these three kings? My special concern is for Rezin, the king of Syria. Do we have evidence for Rezin as a Syrian King? Alexander: Yes we do. He […]
Question: I always get confused and I’m also asked by skeptics regarding the first miracle of Jesus and he selecting his apostles. If we read the Synoptics they say that after being baptized Jesus went to wilderness and was tempted by the devil, rejected at Nazareth in a synagogue and then he selected his apostles […]
[Editor’s note: The questioner is from India and is attempting to respond to unsubstantiated claims that Judaism and/or Christianity have ideas substantially borrowed from Hinduism] Question: 1.Is it true that the Phoenicians traveled to India and brought some arts and ideas of Hinduism and conveyed them back to Palestine where they had influence on Judaism […]
Dr. John Oakes is teaching a 12-hour class on Church History for campus interns in Bakersfield, California 7/24-25/2020. Notes, power point and audio are available here: Church History PPT church history notes Part I Church History Notes II Ch Hist Audio 1 Ch Hist Audio 2 Ch Hist Audio 3 Ch Hist Audio 4 […]
[Editor’s note: This question involves a personal Bible study which has been used in the International Churches of Christ called the “kingdom study.”] Question: I’ve been writing an article for my blog, theWitheredFigTree.com, about the Kingdom-related prophecies in Daniel. In the process of researching this, I found several articles on the web about the authorship […]
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