Dr. John Oakes gave a class on Romans at UC Merced Spring, 2023 and a more-detailed class on the same topic for the West Coast School of Ministry. Romans Notes Romans PPT Romans Audio I Romans Audio II Romans Audio III Romans Audio IV Romans Audio V Romans...
Dr. John Oakes gave a two-part class on baptism in Merced April, 2023 Baptism Class Notes Baptism-In Christ PPT Baptism Audio I Baptism Audio II...
Dr. John Oakes taught a number of classes for churches in Abidjan and Daloa, Cote d’Ivoire and Dakar, Senegal February and March, 2023. Notes and Power Points are available elsewhere. Church History I Abidjan Audio Church History II Church History III Church History IV Church History V Church History VI ...
Dr. John Oakes gave a number of lessons when traveling in Accra, Ghana and Monrovia, Liberia. Notes and PPT are available elsewhere at the web site. Great Bible Study Audio Prob Pain Suff Audio Worldview Ghana Daniel Ghana Revelation Ghana The Holy Spirit Liberia Freedom in Christ Liberia ...
Dr. John Oakes gave a seven-part series of sermons from the Book of Ezekiel in Merced Spring, 2023 Ezek I Audio Ezekiel Sermon I Notes God Calls a Prophet Ezekiel 1 PPT Ezek II Audio Ezekiel II Dramatic Symbolism NotesEzekiel II PPT Ezekiel III God’s Justice audio Ezekiel III...
Dr. John Oakes gave a series of five sermons in Merced winter, 2023. Shadow to Reality Notes Shadow to Reality PPT Shadow to Reality Audio 1 Shadow to Reality II From Shadow to Reality II From Shadow to Reality IV FSTR Mer IV From Shadow to Reality V...
Dr. John Oakes taught a class in Fall, 2022 on the Book of Daniel in Merced. Daniel Notes Daniel PPT Daniel Audio IDaniel Audio II Daniel Audio IIIDaniel Audio IV...
Dr. John Oakes gave a series of ten sermons in the winter 2022/2023 in Merced Hebrews PPT Oakes Hebrews Notes Oakes Hebrews Ch 1 Audio Hebrews Sermon II Audio Hebrews III Audio Hebrews IV Audio Hebrews Mer V Hebrews V Audio Hebrews Mer VI Hebrews Mer...
Dr. John Oakes gave a 5-part series of sermons on being in Christ in Merced Fall, 2022 In-Christ Notes In Christ PPT In Christ Audio I In Christ Audio II In Christ III In Christ Audio IV In Christ Audio V...
Dr. John Oakes gave a series of sermons on the Kingdom of God in Merced, Fall, 2022 Kingdom of God Notes Kingdom of God PPT ppt Kingdom Merced Audio I Kingdom of God Audio II Kingdom of God Audio III ...
Dr. John Oakes taught a 12-part class on church history for the West Coast School of Ministry, Fall, 2022. Church History Notes WCSM Church History PPT WCSM Church History WCSM Audio I Church History WCSM Audio II Church History Audio III Church History Audio IV Church History Audio V ...
Dr. John Oakes taught a series of classes from the Book of James in Merced Fall, 2022. James PPT James Notes James Audio I James Audio II James Audio III James IV audio ...
Question: Muslims say that the prophets preached the oneness of God only. They never predicted God’s son to be born. Christians don’t worship God instead they worship Jesus. They pray to Jesus instead of God. What’s your response? Response: If this is what Muslims say then they are just plain wrong. They are mistaken. In […]
Question: Why can’t Jews/Christians prove that the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc. are the amalgamation of exact words of the prophets? Jonah is surely not written by Jonah as it is a historical narrative. Your response? Answer: It is the nature of ancient documents that no one can ever “prove” the provenance of any […]
Question: Up to what percentage can we reconstruct the New Testament text/ content from early church fathers’ quotations/citations? And I want to know from when in the church’s history did believers start using NT scriptures as a base to preach the Gospel as we do now in our churches. When did Christians start having serious […]
Question: Hello Dr. Oakes. Hopefully all is well! My question today is regarding the entire Old Testament. Just as a disclaimer I absolutely believe that there are no contradictions in the Bible and believe that anyone who disagrees is simply being intellectually dishonest with Scripture and its context or simply is unaware of the context. In […]
Question: I just read your refutation of Jesus being plagiarized off of previous Mediterranean deities and I must say you cannot believe your own drivel. To argue that it couldn’t be plagiarized because only portions of the stories are similar is beyond ridiculous. I have several questions for you: 1) Was Jesus the first deity born […]
Question: How can we be sure that the current books of the Major & Minor Prophets are actual words of the Hebrew Prophets? Christians interpret predictions of Israel’s glorious future fulfilled in the Church, but it’s their interpretation because prophets apparently never meant that. Jews are still looking for fulfilment of the glorious future predictions. […]
Question: Why did Hosea (1:2), Isaiah (32:11), Micah (1:8), and Ezekiel (23:21) possess disreputable characters and use unholy language to their listeners? Answer: Neither Hosea, nor Isaiah, nor Micah or Ezekiel ever had “disreputable characters.” Nor did they ever use unholy language!!! This is an absolutely unjustified charge, and anyone saying this either is being […]
Question: The incest story of Lot and his daughters has been borrowed from Zoroastrian traditions of the incest performed between Jam and Jamag, who were brother and sister. Jamag took advantage of the intoxicated state of her brother and had sex with him. What’s your response? Answer: My response is that this is so obviously […]
Question: Does this study in your opinion pose a serious challenge to the resurrection? I remember reading about the Talpiot tomb and how it was discredited by the majority of scholars both Christian and non Christian. In 2019 James Tabor posted a link to a more recent study saying that the soil of the James […]
Question: If someone at birth is unable to comprehend anything at all or consider special ed will they be able to go to Heaven or Hell, considering they are unable to learn anything? Answer: It has always been my understanding that innocent children, who have not yet sinned, will be in heaven. Innocent people have […]
Dr. John Oakes gave two lessons at a singles conference in San Diego 10/12-15/2023. The first was a lesson about the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. Holy Spirit Notes Holy Spirit PPT Holy Spirit Audio I Holy Spirit II Audio Chariot Ride Notes Chariot Ride […]
[Editor’s note: This exchange is part of a longer discussion in which the questioner believes that there are literally no mistakes in either the Greek text or in the King James translation of that text.] Comments and Questions: I just wanted to thank you for responding so quickly again and wanted to say a few […]
Question: What are your best biblical and historical arguments against the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory? I am interested in hearing both sides and I would like to hear some insight from yourself as I do not believe you believe in Purgatory. Thank you for all you do and God bless. Answer: Honestly, you should […]
Dr. John Oakes is teaching an Old Testament Survey course for the West Coast School of Ministry this Fall. He will be posting notes, power point and audio here. Old-Testament-Survey-Notes Old-Testament-Survey PPT OT Survey I Audio OT Survey II Audio OT Survey Audio III OT Survey Audio IV OT Survey […]
[Editor’s note: The question below is a follow-up from a previous one in which the questioner is quite surprised that a faithful believer would agree that Christians do not have access to a perfect text of the Bible, to which I replied about the textual evidence for the great (but not perfect) reliability of the […]
Question: In the thread below the author demonstrates that Israel’s idea of the Arabian tribes of the time was contradictory, and based on a 7th century BC understanding on how they worked. I’ll copy paste the comment here, but I implore you to read the entire thread. The question was “Where does the idea that […]
Statement: The incest story of Lot and his daughters is borrowed from Zoroastrian traditions of the incest performed by Jam and Jamag, who were brother and sister. Jamag took advantage of the intoxicated state of her brother and had sex with him. What’s your response? Response: My response is that this is so obviously a […]
Question: According to Jews, many of the Torah’s laws are entirely meaningless without further elaboration. Therefore, some type of “Talmud” was taught to Moses at Sinai together with the written Torah. This is what we know as the Oral Law. Thus, the wisdom and debates of the Talmud, in all their diverseness and variety, may […]
Question: In Genesis 18:21 towards the ending of the verse, God says “if not, I will know” when concerning the people of Sodom’s sin. Also, in Genesis 18:21 “I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” Does […]
Question: Authors of prophetic books added their fantasies into God’s word for e.g. 1) Gentiles will come over to Israelites in chains and they will bow down before them (Isa. 45:14). David Guzik affirms this in his commentary. 2) A Gentile nation or kingdom that will not serve Israelites will perish and be utterly ruined (Isa. 60:12). […]
Question: How was God created or how long has he existed? What does “I am what I am” mean? Answer: This is one of the classic questions, both of skeptics of Christianity, but also from some believers. It is a response to what is known as the cosmological argument, which goes like this: Premise: All […]
Dr. John Oakes recently completed a nineteen-week series of sermons from the Gospel of Matthew in Merced, California. The combined notes and power points are available here. Matthew Sermons Whole Series Notes Matthew Whole Series PPT
Question: My Muslim husband says: Why do Jews & Christians not have Hebrew manuscripts from before the Exile or 600 BCE which could verify that the DSS & Septuagint are exact copies of the original text? Why don’t Christians have the original Aramaic Gospel from 30 CE? Answer: Out of respect for the ancient text and […]
Question: I really enjoy the articles on the website. I was reading an article on Daniel at the website, and wanted to bring up a question about it regarding general Titus fulfilling v. 29 of Daniel chapter 9. If indeed it is more likely that it speaks about him, and the information we gather leads […]
Question: There were 12 tribes of Israel, who were given divine scrolls. They were called “Israelites”. Then how can one tribe [Editor’s note: I am assuming the questioner means Judah] represent the whole Israelites and their scriptures when 10 tribes are lost in history and what is the guarantee that the current OT was the […]
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 […]
Question: The only evidence of the Septuagint translation is the pseudepigraphical letter of Aristeas. It says: “six elders out of every tribe of Israel wrote it.” First, 10 tribes of Israelites had already been lost in history a long time ago, before this time, which shows that this story is fabricated. Second, if they wrote, […]
Question: My teacher says: The current Gospels are not reliable because they were written in Greek, whereas the language of Jesus and his followers was Aramaic. Christians don’t have manuscripts from 40 AD in Aramaic. Further, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, his speech was translated from Roman to Aramaic. It means Greek/Latin was not […]
Question: According to 1 Samuel 15:22, “Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience better than a good sacrifice.” Therefore, the whole story of Jesus’ crucifixion is bogus and God didn’t order Jesus to do it. Your response? Answer: This statement is riddles […]
Question: We are told in the Talmud that an assembly of priests were about to reject the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel because those writings were contradictory to the Law but a certain Rabbi had tried to reconcile them and they were preserved as “canonical”. Those three books are confessedly presented to us as […]
Question: Jesus was also a borrower who copied text from the book of II Esdras 1:30-33 and presented it as an inspired word. “I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. When you offer oblations […]
Question: St. Eucharius (3rd Century) said: “It is evident why we have not remaining the books which the Holy Scriptures approve of, because Judea having been ravaged by the Chaldeans, and the ancient bibliotheque being burnt. There remaining only a small number of the books which at present make up the Holy Scriptures and which were […]
There is a short prophecy appended to the book of Jeremiah in Ethiopic Bible which August Dillmann translates: A Prophecy of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah spake thus unto Pashur: But ye all your days fight against the truth, with your fathers and your sons that shall come after you. And they shall commit a sin more damnable […]
Question: Adam Clarke (1831) wrote a commentary on Jeremiah 8:8 that: It is too bold an assertion to say that “the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;” they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such. John Chrysostom (4th Century) wrote in his homily on Matthew 2:23 that: The […]
Question: Although the Isaiah scroll [Editor’s comment: The questioner is referring to the Dead Sea Scrolls] is similar in structure to today’s book of Isaiah, it contains alternative spellings, scribal errors, corrections, and other variant readings. Strictly speaking, the number of textual variants is well over 2600, ranging from a single letter, sometimes one or […]
Question: Why did Jesus not make efforts to stop the promulgation of apocryphal/pseudepigraphal books, for e.g. the apocalypse of Enoch, apocryphon of Ezekiel, apocalypse of Zephaniah, etc.? Answer: A good question. At the time Jesus lived, these books were NOT considered part of the Jewish canon. They were non-canonical but popular spiritual books. Toward the […]
Question: If Jesus’ followers were thousands at the time of crucifixion, why did they not save him? They were such cowards who let their Prophet/Messiah beaten by the Romans. Muslims were far more brave, whose 15,000 men fought against the Byzantine Empire’s army of 140,000 in 636 CE and captured the Christian Levant. Why were […]
Question: I read that in the 7th century, Christians of Najran interacted with Muhammad in Medina. The event of the mubahala (mutual cursing) took place to resolve a theological dispute between Muslims and Christians circa 632 CE by invoking the curse of God upon liars. The Christian delegation withdrew from the challenge and negotiated a […]
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