Question: 1 – I’m reading a book where an atheist asks: “How can the heavenly voice at Jesus’ baptism have said both ” You are my beloved Son” (Mark 1:11) and ” This is my beloved Son” (Matt 3:17) at the same time? “ 2 – Why did God order killed the Canaanite children? Are […]

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Many who use this site are familiar with a Bible study on the Coming of the Kingdom of God. This study was problematic both doctrinally and theologically for a few reasons, but many really liked using it (including myself).  I was asked to produce an updated version of the study, minus its theological errors. Here […]

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Question: Mark 14:51 – What is the significance of this verse? Answer: The story about the young man losing his clothes seems a surprisingly insignificant detail to include in the Gospel of Mark. This has caused many to wonder why Mark included it (including you!).  The most reasonable answer I have heard is that this […]

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Question: I have been seeking to understand the development of communion as it is practiced in the church today and how communion was practiced in the first century Church. I referred to written works from authors with a Jewish understanding and perspective about the practice of breaking bread and communion, To understand the original intent […]

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Dr. John Oakes is teaching a class on the Kingdom of God at a singles conference in San Diego this weekend.  Notes and power point are included, as well as expanded notes.   Kingdom of God Catalyst Notes   Kingdom of God PPT  Kingdom of God Extended Notes                   KOG Catalyst […]

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Question: My son has a “logical” but non-Biblical idea.  He believes that God’s will is omnipotent, sovereign and therefore (because God is good) all obey His will and therefore are not responsible for what they do. Their actions are all predetermined.  How do you respond to this quandary? Answer: This may be the single most common […]

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Question: Once you allow the multiverse, is it not possible that life on earth just popped into existence kind of like Boltzmann brains? Answer: First of all, there is absolutely zero evidence for the multiverse.  This is utter speculation. This speculation only exists, in my opinion, because atheists need a fall-back argument against the FACT […]

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[Editor’s note:  This question comes from a person who has asked many questions, as you will see from my answer. To find more on Ehrman, go to the site and do a search on his name] Question: Bart Ehrman claims that the “we” passages in Acts are forgery by the author to convince the readers […]

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Question: I have a question. In a recent video that I saw, an atheist argued that the Bible teaches that Christians are to have a hostile and distasteful attitude toward nonbelievers. He cites 2 John 1:9-11 as evidence of this claim which says, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching […]

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Question: I read an article that claims that John 7:53-8:11 was not part of the original book of John.  https://www.gotquestions.org/John-7-53-8-11.html Please comment on this article.  Is today’s KJV bible accurate as to the original manuscripts written by the original gospel writers?  Are there any additional example of material that has been added to the Gospels over the […]

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Question: Ephesians 4:8 is a quote from Psalm 68:18, but it is miss-quoted by Paul. The verse in Ephesians says “gave gifts to men,” while Psalms says “received gifts from men”. Please explain. Thank you. Answer: In Ephesians 4:8 it is likely that Paul is quoting the Aramaic Targum rather than the Septuagint.  The Aramaic […]

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Question: I’ve been trying to understand if Daniel 9 actually presents a credible prophecy. I’m at least familiar with (though do not completely understand) all the different perspectives. I’m aware that some interpretations involve the beginning of the “decree” [Daniel 9:25] in 444/445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1). You begin the period of 490 years from 458 […]

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Question: What are the origins and influences of the science of positive thinking and personal development?  Is it biblical when we know that this science mainly advocates the exaltation of the self? Autosuggestion, visualization and mental imagery?   What do you think of the fact that some philosophers or psychologists claim that Jesus is a great […]

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Question: How did the Jewish government handle the resurrections of the dead during the Good Friday story? I mean today once your social security file is closed its over for you! Imagine how our government would handle the dead coming back into the cities! Is there any Jewish mention of these saints when they came back […]

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Question: I heard about discovery of Jesus’ blood on the ark of covenant by Ryan Watt.  He concluded they found Jesus’ blood ….when they tested this blood the results were that Jesus’ blood is still alive today, and it has 24 chromosomes: 23 from his mother and 1 from the Holy Spirit which proves the […]

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[Editor’s note: I received a long and somewhat rambling set of comments and questions from someone. I asked for a more succinct set of comments and questions so that I could respond. You will see below that the shorter version is still a bit unfocused, but this person asks sufficiently important questions that I felt […]

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Question: What do you say to someone who claims that prayer is a waste of time because supposed “answers” to prayer are simply result of confirmational bias? Answer: The way I see it, either God exists or he does not.  If he exists, either he listens to and answers prayer or he does not.  I […]

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Question: What do you say to the idea that Joseph of Arimathea did not actually exist? Is there good historical proof that he did? Answer: There is no “proof” that any single person lived in ancient history.  It is literally impossible to prove that Nero or Julius Caesar or Nebuchadnezzar or anyone else in ancient […]

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Dr. John Oakes is teaching a series of four classes on the Book of Daniel on Saturdays 9:00-10:45 beginning 2/16 at 3010 Amber Canyon Place, Bakersfield, CA 93313.  Notes, power point and audio will be posted.  Daniel PPT   DANIEL Notes   Daniel I Audio    Daniel II Audio    Daniel III Audio     Daniel PartIV     Daniel Part V    Daniel […]

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Question: Did Paul really write the pastoral epistles? Most scholars refuse this opinion and say that they were written later after Paul’s death. They say that the vocabulary and style are different from that of the seven undisputed epistles. Some have suggested that Paul used a secretary to write these epistles, probably Luke, because he […]

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Question: What is the way to respond to this question? Can God make a rock so big, he can’t move it? Answer: This is one of the classic “challenges” to the idea of the Christian God that atheists and agnostics throw out there.   It is really a rather unsophisticated challenge, but for those who do […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a class on the history of Christianity for the Los Angeles School of Ministry and Missions Nov 30-Dec 1 2018 and March 8-9, 2019.  Notes and power point are here:  church history notes Part I    Church History Notes Part II    Church History PPT    Church History audio 1     Church History Audio […]

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Dr. John Oakes is doing a teaching weekend for the Pioneer Valley Church of Christ March 1-3.  This includes a class on Science and God at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst on Friday evening and a lesson on the existence of God on Sunday AM.  For more information, contact Lee Callan at leemichaelcallan@gmail.com    or go […]

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Question: I want to ask you some questions about quantum mechanics, cause I know that’s your specialization. 1. I’ve read about the many-worlds interpretation and am wondering if it is true, and if it’s true then would this interpretation deny God’s existence? 2. I’ve also read about many-minds interpretation, but I am still confused about […]

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Question: I believe the Holy Spirit is a person and I believe Jesus was conceived through the Holy spirit, but someone who thinks the Holy Spirit is not a person could ask me this question and I cannot find an answer..please help me !  The reasoning is this: If the Holy Spirit is a person of […]

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Question: Some people think that Jesus was begotten by the father only at his resurrection because the apostle Paul said about Jesus that he was appointed Son of God by His resurrection ( Romans 1 – or the speech of Paul in the Act of the Apostle).  I’m currently reading the Bart Erhman’s book “How Jesus […]

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Question: Is Zechariah 13:7 talking about the Messiah or is it about the false shepherd whom God strikes in Zechariah 11:17 or perhaps the false prophet in Zechariah 13: 1-6? Answer: The shepherd of Zechariah 13:7 is the Messiah.  I know this for sure because in Matthew 26:31 the inspired gospel writer Matthew tells us […]

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[Editor’s note: I am dispersing my answers among the questions.  They will be in italics.] Question: I have been a believer of Jesus Christ for more than 10 years. Recently my brother who is an atheist challenged me with many absurd theories he found on the internet. That provoked me to look for solid evidence […]

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Question: Doesn’t Revelation 17: 10 show that John got his vision during the sixth king, who is Vespasian? and the seventh king who is to come is Titus, who according to this verse will rule for a short time, and he did, from 79 till 81 AD? If this is    true, then John got […]

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Dr. John Oakes gave a two-part series of sermons on the Kingdom of God April 29, May 5, 2019 and also a class on the kingdom for the Catalyst Conference May 4, 2019.     Kingdom of God Catalyst    Kingdom of God I    Kingdom of God II...

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