Dr. John Oakes taught a class on the books of Ezekiel and Jeremiah in San Diego March and April, 2016.  Pedro Figueroa taught the fifth of six classes.   Prophets of Exile PPT    Prophets of the Exile    Prophets of Exile Audio 1    Prophets of Exile Audio 2    Exile Proph SD 4     Prophets of Exile audio […]

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This is a four part series on the Holy Spirit, taught by Dr. John Oakes for the San Diego Church of Christ staff.  It covers the role of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts  and the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.    The Holy Spirit SD    Holy Spirit II...

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Question: What is Freemasonry and what should the Christian response to this organization be? Answer: To some, Free-Masonry is a Satan-inspired conspiratorial organization of secret anti-government, anti-Christian men, and to others it is a fraternal social organization very similar to the Elks and the Lion’s club.  The truth lies somewhere in between, but for the […]

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Question: I believe that the Bible is the word of God and is the greatest text ever written. It is 100% accurate and reliable. That being said, are there any other inspired texts that were written in the first century that one can look at and research and that are reliable? I’m asking about other […]

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Is Baptism a Work of Salvation? I have repeatedly gotten questions at my web site asking about where baptism fits into Christianity.  These questions usually come from people who have been influenced by the prevailing theological and doctrinal landscape within evangelical Christianity—primarily from reformed theology and Calvinism.  The premise of these questions involves two aspects.  […]

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Question: One philisophical principle is that in a set of hypotheses, the one with less assumptions should be validated.  Most of my friends think that materialism is the worldview with the least assumptions since it only requires that we assume the physical world can be perceived, measured and understood by our human senses.  These materialist friends say […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five hour workshop on the Book of John for the San Diego Church of Christ April 24, 2016.  The class focuses on what makes John unique–especially John’s use of the Jewish festivals to tell us about Jesus.   Gospel of John Notes    Gospel of John PPT    John Workshop Audio 1    John...

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Dan Conder and Dr. John Oakes taught a six-hour class on Understading Islam at UC San Diego May 21, 2016.  Topics include History of Islam, Life of Muhammad, Qur’an and Hadith, Apologetics and Islam, Jihad and Islam, Modern Islam.  Apologetics and Islam notes John   Understanding Islam PPT John   Understanding Islam Audio 1    Understanding Islam Audio...

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Question: I would be interested in hearing your notes / commentary on Genesis 1-11.  From my research, there appears to be a lot of interpretation going into the transalation of our English language bibles. A superficial reading of our English language Bibles in Genesis would seem to support a young earth and a global cataclysmic […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught on Calvinism–its history, basic theology and reasons to reject its basic tenets–in Manila Jan 23, 2016.  The notes and power point are included.   Answering Calvinism Notes    Answering Calvinism PPT   Due to technical glitches, only part I and part IV are available in high quality Calvinism I Audio     Calvinism IV Audio but the […]

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Question: I have a question about Isaiah 59:1-2.  I have heard it taught that the last words of verse 2, “your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear”, means that when people who are not Christians pray, their prayers were not heard, even if they are sincerely religious.  I always […]

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Question: I am trying to share the Gospel message to a Muslim, and I need help in responding to his email. Here is his response:  [Editor’s note: Because there are so many questions here, the answers are interspersed among the different questions.  The questions are in italics.  J. O.] God created human being, showed them […]

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Question: I have just finished to read all the NEW TESTAMENT and I have some questions about some points. 1  Can you explain how a death ( Jesus’ death on the Cross) can forgive the sins of any human being  even many years after? I think it is tough to understand  and its a matter […]

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Question: If a person was locked alone in a room with a Bible, and knew nothing about Church history, would they really come out of this room as a cessationist? I have trouble believing this statement. I am attaching a debate link that I found useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLOSesbHxQr2ShoYe9sgnTZ1er9GGYz5F0&v=c0biTwj635I&app=desktop [editor’s note: the questioner is using the word […]

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Question: The OT describes the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah.  The doubt I have comes from the question, did God the Father command Israel to worship this Messiah?  Or on the other hand, did he only predict the coming of a great prophet who will teach Israel his way (like the old prophets […]

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Question: What is your take on supernatural biblical scholars (like Tom Horn ) who spend a great deal of time, research, field trips etc into writing books, documentaries, and then go on to Christian tv shows using current events to corroborate with the  bilblical/ extra bibilical prophecies?  Some of the stronger claims they allege is […]

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Pedro Figueroa and Dr. John Oakes taught a six-week class on the Book of Romans at the Mission Center of Hope in San Diego on six consecutive Saturdays, beginning October 3rd.  The notes, power point and audio are posted here.   Romans Notes John  Romans Notes Pedro     Romans PPT Pedro       Romans PPT John    Romans Audio […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a number of lessons which were translated into Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese.  They were classes on Hebrews, on Living by Faith, on Who is Jesus, on the Holy Spirit and more.   Hebrews Thai Part I    Hebrews Thai audio Part II    Evidence for Jesus Bangkok Audio    Hebrews Batambang I audio    Hebrews Batambang...

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Question: The book of Ezra mentions that after Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of the temple that it began again during the reign of Darius. Is this Darius II that reigned after Artexerxes or is this Darius I and the Ahasuerus and Artexerxes mentioned in chapter 4 Cambyses and Smerdis? This is all a bit confusing. […]

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Question: Thank you for the interesting site. And I have fond memories of your lessons at Novosibirsk in 2011. In one of your answers you have written: “It is God’s will for my children to be saved, and my faithful, unremitting, unselfish prayer will increase the chances that they will be saved.” https://evidenceforchristianity.org/if-we-pray-for-things-that-are-gods-will-mark-1123-24-can-we-assume-that-he-will-answer-that-prayer/ What passages […]

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Question: I am reading your book on Mormonism [editor’s note: available at www.ipibooks.com] and I came across the section about Mormon belief and one of the beliefs was baptism for the dead.  Do they take this from the 1 Corinthian 15:29 verse? What does the verse mean? Answer: Mormons do not get baptism for the […]

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[editor’s note: This is a follow-up from an inquiry last week.  The original question is below to give context to the concern of the one who asked. As you read the question, bear in mind it is a follow-up to the original, which is if Luke grossly exaggerated the number of converts in Jerusalem in […]

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Question: Dr. Oakes, I am reading a book for one of my classes called “the rise of Christianity” and the author makes a point that if the early church had well over 3,000 adherents then a significant of the population in Jerusalem would have been Christian. He claims that there is no evidence of this […]

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Question: Is Foxe’s book called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs historically and biblically accurate? I was interested in purchasing it, and wanted to know what you thought about it. Answer: Foxe’s book of martyrs is mostly accurate, but it is extremely biased against the Catholic Church.  The coverage of them martyrdoms in the early Church is generally good. […]

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Question: Someone asked me “With all other religions in circulation why do you feel that only Christianity is the way?” How can you prove that it is the only way? I couldn’t prove this with scripture because this was a man who didn’t believe in scripture. So I ask how can a young man show […]

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Question: God is, in principle, against human sacrifice: the religious ritual killing of innocents to appease God, or any gods, for that matter. So it would be likewise true that God is, in principle, against anyone’s ever *thinking* that God is ever in favor of such sacrifice. So, if God caused Abraham to think that […]

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Question: Why do most scientist reject the possibility of God`s existence?  Why do they embrace evolution? Answer: Two really good questions!  First, it is simply not true that most scientists reject the possibility of the existence of God.  Many do, but more do not.  This is a stereotype which is created largely because the atheist […]

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